Australia’s government-backed SME growth fund has inked its second defence-linked deal, announcing a multimillion-dollar investment in a local defence and commercial maritime and industrial services business as well as changes enabling the fund to make bigger investments into other home-grown success stories.
The fresh capital from the Australian Business Growth Fund (ABGF) will pave the way for Griffin Industrial Group to scale up its national sustainment operations and shipbuilding capabilities to support AUKUS and the nation’s growing naval fleet. The deal comes as ABGF doubles its maximum initial cheque size from $15 million to $30 million, which it says unlocks greater firepower to back more home-grown businesses delivering the skills and capabilities Australia needs.
“Griffin is exactly the kind of business ABGF exists to back: Australian-grown, nationally significant and building the skills and sovereign capability our nation needs,” ABGF chief executive Anthony Healy said. “Our expanded investment mandate means bigger backing for ambitious Australian businesses. It gives us more firepower to help home-grown companies like Griffin scale, create skilled jobs and deliver for Australia.”
Founded by defence industry trade stalwarts, Troy Ranford and Maryn Stroud some 12 years ago, they grew Griffin from a single operation into a national one. Griffin now employs over 200 skilled workers to build and maintain ships and marine infrastructure, adding further trade and engineering capabilities. It is highly specialised, hands-on work – from precision welding and fabrication to mechanical fitting and pipework – delivered to exacting standards supporting their clients and Australia’s defence service people.
As Australia enters a sustained period of naval investment underpinned by AUKUS, demand for these skills is set to rapidly grow, with spend on maintaining the Navy’s expanding fleet alone forecast to grow at around 10 percent each year over the next decade.
Griffin chief executive Chris Stoll says its partnership with ABGF had come at the perfect time to help the business seize the opportunity. “Over the last few years, we’ve worked hard to build a business with a strong national footprint, including in regional Australia, diverse technical capabilities, and a reputation for delivering for our customers. This investment gives us the capacity to continue investing in our people, broaden our capabilities, and strengthen the support we provide to customers across the country. We believe ABGF is a partner that understands our business and culture, shares our long-term view, and will help us accelerate the next stage of growth. Together, we can strengthen our capability across Australia, invest in leadership and systems, and pursue acquisition opportunities that align with our culture and long-term objectives.”
With operations across all four major naval homeports – Henderson (WA), Sydney (NSW), Darwin (NT) and Cairns (QLD) – Griffin already works closely with many of the nation’s tier-one defence primes including Austal, Thales, Babcock, and NORSTA.
ABGF’s investment and strategic support will help Griffin build on this national platform by strengthening its operations, growing its workforce, expanding into shipbuilding, and pursuing acquisitions.
Griffin chair Michael Sertorio says ABGF’s backing recognised what Griffin’s people had built and strengthened the business for the future. “We are proud to achieve this milestone of securing a strategic investment by ABGF whose purpose it is to back Australian businesses in critical industries. It is a recognition of the great work and commitment of our people around the country and enhances our ability to meet the future needs of our clients across defence, infrastructure and resources.”
It is the fund’s second defence sector investment after advanced battery manufacturer 3ME Technology, and Healy said it would not be the last. “Australia needs strong sovereign businesses to deliver its defence ambitions. ABGF is committed to backing the companies and founders building the skills, technology and capability to make that happen,” Healy said.
To help deliver on this commitment, ABGF has expanded its investment mandate so it can provide bigger and more flexible backing to high-potential Australian businesses. The fund has doubled its maximum initial investment from $15 million to $30 million and can now invest up to $50 million in a business including follow-on investments. ABGF can now also take a majority stake where a founder wants to reduce their shareholding, giving business owners more flexibility while retaining the fund’s established minority investment model.
Healy said that after turning away too many strong Australian businesses that needed bigger cheques or more flexible ownership options, the additional flexibility would help close a stubborn gap in Australia’s capital markets. “These changes mean bigger backing, more flexibility and better access to capital for growth-ready Australian SMEs. Our purpose and core mandate remains the same: we back Australian business owners to keep building. We can now provide the right investment for more businesses and more stages of their growth.”
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