Earlier in May Propel Funeral Partners (PFP) of Australia and New Zealand announced the acquisition of three funeral service firms and one company that supplies headstones and monuments to consumers.  You can read a short press release on this occurence here.

The press release announces the purchase of the following:

• Brunswick Valley Funerals — a heritage firm of over 18 years located in Mullumbimby, New South Wales, Australia
• Gladstone Valley Funerals — a heritage firm of over 25 years located in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia
• Osborne Funeral Directors — a heritage firm of over 40 years located in Rotorua, New Zealand
• Decra — a business that has supplied headstones and monuments in NZ for over 40 years.

According to information on the company website the firms combined total of annual revenue last year was AUS $6.0 million (US$3.97 million) and the funeral firms conducted a total of 350 funerals.

Rarely does a press release indicate the amount that was paid for a business but the website lets us know that the combined purchase price was AUS $12.0 million (US$7.94 million) with a potential additional “Earn-Out” of AUS $1.50 million (US$ 1.0 million) available over a three-year milestone achievement period.

At present Propel Funeral Partners operates from 194 locations which include 38 cremation facilities, and 9 cemeteries.

You can also learn more on these transactions and more company information by going to the company website and looking at the “Investor Centre”.    You can learn a great deal on the company, its past, and its potential future by clicking on a press release entitled “Presentation to Macquarie Australia Conference”.  Reach the “Investor Centre” by clicking here.

Here is the Home Page of the website of Propel Funeral Partners.

Funeral Director Daily take:  There is no doubt that Propel Funeral Partners is taking advantage of Australia and New Zealand’s largest funeral home operator InvoCare being taken private last year.  InvoCare, which was taken private by a private equity firm and de-listed last November is probably in the midst of operational changes and it appears that Propel Funeral Partners is using that effort to aggressively purchase existing businesses in the profession.

According to the “Presentation” listed above, Propel Funeral Partners has moved from about 1% of the death care market share in 2015 to about 9% today while InovCare has dropped from 25% in 2015 to about 21% today.  Approximately 70% of the market share in Australia and New Zealand is held by others.

According to the same information source, for the 1st Half of the 2024 fiscal year, Propel Funeral Partners service numbers have risen 17.4% over the same period last year and are on trend to total 21,274 for 2024 after serving 18,029 families last year.

Revenues appear on the same trajectory as for the 1st Half of the 2024 fiscal year, PFP has recorded an an increase of 18.9% over the last year and are on pace to bring in total revenue of  AUS $205.8 million (US$ 136.1 million) as compared to 2023 fiscal year totals of AUS $168.5 million (US$ 111.4 million).

More news from the world of Death Care:

• York funeral director, 21, was never scared of death growing up.  Yahoo Life – BBC News
• Natural burials too hard for Palmerston North.  Stuff (New Zealand)
• Morbid confession:  I pre-paid my own funeral — here’s how much I paid.  Go Banking Rates
• Hampshire funeral homes launch eco-friendly vehicles.  Yahoo – UK News
• VA says it can’t change new urn, plaque benefit that precludes future burials in national veteran cemeteries.  Military.com
• Only buy a pre-need funeral plan from an authorized provider, says watchdog.  Yahoo – UK Style

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