A family office is a private wealth management entity for one or more wealthy families, typically deploying long-term capital into both passive investments and direct operating business acquisitions. Family offices are increasingly active in Australian sub-$20M M&A as a category of patient, founder-friendly capital.
Family office buyers tend to have longer holding periods than PE (often ten years or more), more flexibility on deal structure, and lower expectations on annualised returns. They can be attractive buyers for founders who want to preserve culture and management continuity post-completion, but their decision-making timelines can be slower and less predictable than institutional PE.