Updated:
Straight Bat
Straight Bat was established in East Melbourne by four partners — Steve, Rob, Matt, and Brad — who collectively bring decades of experience from McKinsey,...
Straight Bat
Straight Bat was established in East Melbourne by four partners — Steve, Rob, Matt, and Brad — who collectively bring decades of experience from McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Westpac, Wingate, and operating roles in industrials, technology, and consumer goods. The firm’s name and ethos derive from the cricket idiom meaning honest, consistent, low-risk performance — a philosophy directly reflected in its investment posture. Straight Bat deploys capital into mature, robust, medium-sized Australian companies that generate $5–50 million in EBITDA and maintain margins above 20%. The firm targets buyout, growth, and succession situations with a preference for 50:50 partnerships, though it is flexible on minority or majority stakes. The portfolio spans industrials, healthcare, manufacturing, consumer products, technology, transport, financial services, and agribusiness. Adjacent to the equity strategy, the firm participates in private credit through Mosaic Private Credit and property via H.CO Property. Geographic focus is domestic, centered on Australia, with specific regional emphasis in Victoria and Queensland. The partnership operates with a lean team of roughly a dozen investment professionals and an expanded ecosystem of executive chairs-in-residence and a selection committee that draws members from Flight Centre, Foster’s Group, Transfield Holdings, Wingate, and Johns Lyng Group. The firm runs no disclosed AUM. It complements the private equity fund with ancillary capital vehicles — co-investment clubs, growth debt, and opportunistic debt structures — available to its investor base. May 2025: The firm continued to build its value-creation operating bench with senior hires specializing in revenue growth, transformation, and human capital, reinforcing its long-duration hands-on model. Straight Bat’s structural differentiator lies in its indefinite-hold mandate and explicit income-targeting objective: the firm does not pursue timeline-driven exits but instead manages for sustained cash yield and capital preservation. This architecture — a buy-and-hold partnership fund that prioritises franked dividends over fund-lifecycle realizations — distinguishes it from both conventional mid-market buyout firms and most Australian family-office direct investors.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Asia
Country
Australia
City
East Melbourne
Corporate office
Level 5, 88 Jolimont Street, East Melbourne VIC 3002, Australia
Principals
Steve
Managing Partner
Rob
Senior Partner
Matt
Senior Partner
Brad
Partner & Director
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does Straight Bat source proprietary deal flow?
Straight Bat relies on deep personal networks built over decades by its partners and selection committee — a group that includes the co-founder of Flight Centre, the former CEO of Foster’s Group, and the Smith family behind PFD Food Services. The firm’s 50:50 partnership model, indefinite hold commitment, and operator-heavy bench make it a preferred counterparty for business owners pursuing succession, partial liquidity, or long-term stewardship rather than a full exit.
What is Straight Bat's return target and distribution model?
The firm explicitly targets a 10% franked dividend yield per annum before fees, coupled with conservative capital appreciation through natural business growth. By forgoing fixed fund lives and exit timetables, Straight Bat operates more like a permanent-hold holding company, distributing regular income to investors while preserving principal.
Does Straight Bat participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Straight Bat invests directly into operating businesses as a principal. It does not operate as a fund-of-funds. However, the firm’s ecosystem includes adjacent credit and property vehicles — Mosaic Private Credit and H.CO Property — and investors gain access to co-investment, growth debt, and opportunistic opportunities that emerge across the portfolio.
What is the firm's relationship to Wingate and the other entities named on its website?
Managing Director Ze’ev was previously with Wingate, and board member Farrel founded Wingate — but Straight Bat itself is an independent private equity firm. Several team members also have ties to firm-related vehicles: Brad co-founded Mosaic Private Credit, Signature Hospitality Group, and H.CO Property alongside his Straight Bat role, creating a constellation of affiliated but separate investment platforms.
Which sectors does Straight Bat explicitly avoid?
The firm explicitly targets mature, profitable, lower-growth businesses with high margins. It avoids venture-stage, pre-revenue, and speculative technology companies, as well as capital-intensive businesses that cannot support its 10% dividend yield target. Its emphasis on EBITDA margins above 20% filters out most low-margin industries like pure commodity distribution or heavy cyclical manufacturing.
How is Straight Bat's governance and investment decision-making structured?
Investment decisions are overseen by the partnership board (Steve, Rob, Matt, Brad) and informed by a selection committee of experienced operators and family-office principals, including Geoff (Flight Centre), Trevor O’Hoy (former Foster’s CEO), Lindsay Smith (PFD Food Services), and Massimo Belgiorno-Nettis (Transfield Holdings). This provides a blend of full-time investment team rigor and deep external operating wisdom.
Does Straight Bat maintain philanthropic or family-office structures alongside the fund?
Individual partners maintain separate philanthropic interests — for example, Geoff serves social enterprises STREAT and Reach Youth, and Brad sits on the Epworth Medical Foundation — but Straight Bat itself is structured purely as a private equity fund. There is no disclosed single-family-office vehicle; the firm pools capital from its partners and external investors into the fund.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on family offices?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: