Private equity found Queensland. The hiring wave lands next.

Quick one before the detail. I've been recruiting for 17 years and I can't remember a quarter where this much global money landed on Queensland businesses at the same time. So I've written it up properly, sorted by what's actually signed versus what's still talk, and finished with what it means if you're hiring or being hired on the other side of one of these.

It's long. The numbers are worth it.

Start with what happened here

Four Queensland businesses took serious capital between mid June and mid September. Switchgear, rostering software, insurance repairs and radiology. They have nothing in common except the postcode and the quality of what they built.

NOJA Power, Brisbane. Goldman Sachs Alternatives has a definitive agreement for a controlling stake, Ellerston is out, and the four founders (Neil O'Sullivan, Oleg Samarski, Jay Manne and Quynh Anh Le) are reinvesting and staying on. AFR put the price around $1 billion. The bit I like most is who lost. Blackstone and GE Vernova were both in the process. A Brisbane switchgear manufacturer had three of the biggest names in global capital fighting over it. Completion is later in 2026, FIRB pending.

Tanda, Brisbane. Thoma Bravo, the largest software-focused investor in the world with roughly US$170 billion under management, made a strategic growth investment on 8 September. Terms not disclosed. Jake Phillpot stays as CEO and the co-founders keep significant equity. What makes this one special is the road in. Fourteen years bootstrapped, zero outside capital, roughly 8,000 customers across Australia, North America, the UK and Southeast Asia, all running on a single codebase. Thoma Bravo called out the AI roadmap specifically in the announcement. Big shout out to the Tanda crew, that is a rare path and they walked it.

Ambrose Construct Group, Kunda Park. CVC Asia VI signed for a controlling stake on 3 September, buying from CPE Capital and founders Brett and Melissa Ambrose. AFR says around $700 million, CVC won't say. Revenue is north of $300 million, CEO Anthony McLean stays, close is early 2027. CPE only bought in during October 2022. Four years, one professionalisation cycle, and a global sponsor is now paying for chapter two. Remember that pattern, it's the whole story of this quarter.

Qscan, Clayfield. PEP's Secure Assets fund has been in exclusivity with Infratil since late July over its roughly 59.6 per cent stake, media around $900 million for the group. Nothing is signed. For context, Infratil and Morrison & Co bought in at the end of 2020 at a reported $735 million enterprise value. Six years for that uplift is not a home run, and Infratil has said publicly it wants NZ$1 billion of divestments, so you have a motivated seller and a buyer taking its time. Aged exclusivity tells you something. Hiring here waits.

One more, and it's not private equity. Ausbuild agreed on 10 September to sell 51 per cent to Sekisui Chemical for $335 million, which implies roughly $670 million of equity for the whole business. Sekisui Chemical, not Sekisui House, different company. They build industrialised homes in Japan, 68,000 of them so far, which tells you exactly why they want a Queensland land and housing business. Close is January 2027. Strategic money rather than sponsor money, same conclusion. Global balance sheets are choosing South East Queensland.

The backdrop supports all of it. Pitcher Partners counted 120 Queensland deals in the first half of 2026 with a record $11.1 billion of disclosed value, the biggest first half since they started counting in 2014. Last calendar year international acquirers did 67 Queensland deals, also a record. Dealmaker confidence went from 6.97 out of 10 to 8 out of 10 in twelve months. And EY's global read for the June quarter had tech-focused PE deals down 50 per cent year on year while non-tech deals rose 9 per cent. Read that one twice if you're a tech recruiter like me lol.

Queensland watchlist

• NOJA Power · definitive, FIRB pending, completion later 2026. Expect institutional-grade finance and operations hiring post-close.
• Tanda · completed growth investment. Watch for go-to-market and revenue leadership build-out, plus AI product depth.
• Ambrose Construct Group · signed, close early 2027. Second-chapter operators and integration capability.
• Qscan · exclusivity only, aged since late July. Nothing binding. Hiring waits.
• Ausbuild · strategic, not sponsor. Close January 2027. Watch for manufacturing and supply-chain leadership as Sekisui brings its factory model across.

The national tape, sorted properly

Most commentary blurs a signed scheme implementation deed with a non-binding indicative offer. For anyone planning a move or a hire, those are different planets. Here's the quarter sorted the way it should be.

Binding or completed

• Steadfast Group. Signed scheme with Starboard BidCo (Dragoneer and KKR, with Amwins taking the underwriting agencies) at $6.00 cash, enterprise value around $7.7 billion. That's a 51.9 per cent premium to the $3.95 undisturbed price, and the consortium walked up from $5.50 to $5.83 to $6.00 to get there. Target completion December 2026, approvals outstanding in four countries.
• Orikan. Five V Capital to EQT, AFR says around $475 million, which is at least a three times return for Five V in four years. Nearly 400 staff. Close end of 2026.
• Stanley College. Quadrant took roughly 58 per cent around July. Price undisclosed. Education roll-up thesis. Done, not live.
• Grant Thornton Australia joined the New Mountain-backed Grant Thornton Advisors platform, completing around 21 August, media around $1 billion. Brisbane is one of the offices inside that.

Signed, with a definite path

• Ambrose to CVC, close early 2027.
• NOJA to Goldman Sachs, completion later 2026.
• Estia Health. Bain Capital to Stonepeak with Axight out of Abu Dhabi. Bain paid $838 million in December 2023, media has the exit around $2.5 billion, and in between the business went from 73 homes to 93 and from 6,720 residents to 9,250. That is what a sponsor means when it says step change. Queensland homes in the portfolio, close late 2026.

Live, non-binding or contested

• FleetPartners. Four-way. SG Fleet (PEP-backed) raised from $3.60 to $4.00 after being knocked back, Element and ORIX both at $3.80, Sumitomo reported as circling. Equity around $845 to $860 million. The board opened the data room to all three rather than pick a favourite. Nobody has this yet.
• Cleanaway. EQT Infrastructure has nine weeks of exclusive due diligence at $3.13, up from an opening $3.00. That's a 32.1 per cent premium, roughly 20 times FY26 EBIT and about $9.4 billion enterprise value. The board says it will recommend at that price. Still non-binding until a scheme is signed.
• Reliance Worldwide. Brookfield's fourth offer. $4.15 in April, then $4.25, then $4.50, now $4.75 after eight weeks in the data room. About $4.1 billion enterprise value at 12.1 times EBITDA. Exclusivity ends 15 September, which is Tuesday. There's a 30 day go-shop if a scheme gets signed, so even a deal isn't the end of it.
• EQT Holdings. TPG at $24.55, BGH at $24.75. Competing and non-binding.
• MaxiPARTS. Ares Management Asia at $2.50, around $132 million enterprise value, in exclusive due diligence.
• Perth Radiological Clinic. PEP as exclusive bidder, media around $800 million, not signed.
• SIXT Australia. Anchorage Capital Partners in advanced talks with NRMA. Undisclosed.
• Ingenia Communities. Rejected Warburg Pincus at $4.75, around $1.94 billion of equity. Rejected is a status too, and it usually means someone comes back.

Four patterns worth naming

Take-privates are pricing a gap. Steadfast, Cleanaway, Reliance, EQT Holdings, MaxiPARTS, Ingenia. Every premium above sits between 30 and 52 per cent. Sponsors keep deciding public markets are underpricing predictable cash flow, and boards keep having to decide whether to agree. The bidding rhythm is the same every time as well. Open low, get told no, come back 10 to 15 per cent higher.

Secondary buyouts are the norm. CPE to CVC at Ambrose. Ellerston to Goldman at NOJA. Bain to Stonepeak at Estia. Five V to EQT at Orikan. Every one of those businesses has already had a sponsor take it from founder-run to institutional. The next owner has read the founder story already. They're underwriting the next chapter, and that chapter needs different people.

Platform and bolt-on logic is everywhere. FleetPartners as the consolidation prize, Stanley College as an education roll-up, Ambrose already stitched together from seven businesses, Estia adding 20 homes in 30 months.

Tech is one lane on a wide road. Healthcare and social infrastructure, grid equipment, insurance services, waste, education, fleet. EY's survey has healthcare services and digital infrastructure as the top two areas GPs want more of, each cited by 45 to 50 per cent of them. Bain & Company has taken to calling the software pullback the "SaaSpocalypse". Mid-market dry powder is still there, with Crescent's eighth fund reportedly heading for a $1.3 billion hard cap.

What this means for executive hiring

Deals create appointments on a clock. Knowing the clock is most of the edge.

1. Post-close is when permanent hiring starts. CEOs, CFOs and COOs who have lived inside a sponsor-owned business before. Add risk and compliance leadership where the asset is regulated (Estia, Qscan, Steadfast), and integration leads where bolt-ons are the whole thesis.

2. Secondary buyouts hire for the second chapter. A second sponsor is underwriting a further step change. The person who gets the job has taken a business from good to institutional, kept the culture intact, and can point to exactly what they changed. Bain took Estia from 73 homes to 93. Someone ran that, and they're now the most employable operator in aged care.

3. Contested auctions run on interim capability. Where a target is in exclusivity or a four-way fight, the immediate need is interim finance and ops capacity to carry diligence and completion. Permanent search follows a signed scheme or close, never an indicative offer. If you're a gun interim CFO in Brisbane, now is a very good time to make sure I know your name.

4. The Queensland talent bar just moved. NOJA, Tanda and Ambrose are now inside global diligence. Board reporting, financial control, cyber posture, workforce data, all examined at a standard most locally grown businesses have never faced. If you want to be the next one bought at these prices, hire against that standard now, before the data room opens.

How private equity equity actually pays

The most common mistake I see senior candidates make is valuing an equity package at the headline number. Sponsor plans frequently cliff on the sponsor's own multiple of invested capital. A plan that only pays meaningfully at a hard three times MOIC is a completely different instrument to one that vests from two times, and both get described as "significant equity" in the offer letter.

Bain made roughly three times on Estia in 30 months. Five V made three times on Orikan in four years. Those are the hurdles management equity in those businesses was probably written against, and they are the exception. Most sponsor exits don't look like that.

Before you sign, understand four things. Whether the hurdle is a cliff or a ratchet. The leverage and entry multiple you're inheriting, because Cleanaway at 20 times EBIT and Reliance at 12 times EBITDA are very different starting points for the person who has to grow into them. The expected hold period against your own timeline. And what happens to your equity if you're a leaver. We go through this with candidates every week. It's usually the difference between a good appointment and an expensive one.

Sectors to watch for second half 2026 searches

• Insurance services and broking, on the back of Steadfast and the consolidation behind it
• Insurance repair and restoration, with Ambrose now sponsor-backed for a second time
• Radiology and diagnostics, with Qscan and Perth Radiological both under sponsor attention
• Aged care and social infrastructure, following Estia and Stonepeak's earlier move on Aura Holdings in Queensland
• Waste and industrials, if Cleanaway converts exclusivity into a signed scheme
• Education and vocational training, on the Stanley College thesis
• Grid, electrification and advanced manufacturing, with NOJA as the local marker
• Workforce and HR technology, with Tanda now inside the Thoma Bravo stable
• Residential construction and prefab, once Sekisui's model lands at Ausbuild
• Vehicle fleet and asset finance, whichever way FleetPartners resolves

The Lex Gordon view

Capital doesn't arrive quietly and it doesn't arrive alone. Every transaction above will produce appointments over the next 18 months, and most of them will go to people who understand what a sponsor actually wants from a leadership team. Pace, evidence, and no surprises in the board pack.

Queensland has spent a long time being described as an emerging market for capital. That description is out of date. NOJA had Goldman, Blackstone and GE Vernova at the table. Tanda has the biggest software investor on the planet. Ambrose has CVC. These businesses are being bought at global prices by global buyers, and the leaders they need are being assessed against a global standard.

If you're a chair, owner or sponsor planning an appointment on the other side of a deal, the useful conversation happens before close rather than after. If you're an executive weighing up a sponsor-backed role, the equity structure deserves as much scrutiny as the strategy. Either way, flick me a note. No pitch, just a chat.

Note on sourcing: deal values described as media-reported are exactly that. Statuses in this piece are current as at 11 September 2026 and several of these situations are non-binding and can change quickly. Premiums and multiples are taken from the relevant ASX announcements.

Sources and further reading

• NOJA Power, Goldman Sachs Alternatives
• Tanda, Thoma Bravo strategic growth investment
• Ambrose Construct Group, CVC Asia VI
• Qscan Group
• Infratil investor announcements
• Sekisui Chemical, Ausbuild acquisition announcement (10 Sept 2026)
• Steadfast Group investor centre
• Reliance Worldwide, process deed announcement
• Cleanaway investor centre
• Stonepeak, Estia Health
• Ingenia Communities investor centre
• Pitcher Partners Deal Pulse, Queensland mid-year 2026
• EY Private Equity Pulse Q2 2026