Ownership Transition Mapping
A focused review of how shares, voting rights, and control currently sit — and how they could move to successors or buyers without fracturing the firm.
Haven Base Succession Advisory
Ownership and leadership, handed on with care
We advise established private firms on succession planning — mapping who owns, who leads, and when authority moves — so the next chapter is deliberate rather than improvised.
Flagship advisory
A full succession engagement for firms that already carry weight
Principals come to us when retirement is visible on the calendar, when siblings disagree on control, or when a buyer appears before the ownership papers are ready. The Full Succession Engagement is our primary offer.
We sit with owners, managers, and family shareholders to produce a written succession plan: ownership options, leadership readiness, a handover calendar, and a decision register that records what was agreed — and what remains open.
Legal drafting and tax products stay with your solicitor and accountant. Our work is the structure and the conversations that make those documents usable.
Related work
Supporting advisory for specific succession questions
Some firms need a focused piece of work before a full engagement. These offerings stand alone or feed into a broader plan.
Family Governance Sessions
Facilitated conversations that set decision rules, roles, and conflict pathways for families who own and work inside the same private firm.
Management Handoff Planning
Practical planning for when a founding manager steps back: authority transfer, client introductions, and the first twelve months of successor support.
From a client
“The full succession engagement gave us a timeline we could show staff without promising a sale. Successors knew what authority they would gain each quarter.”
Grounded in private firm reality
Since 2011, Haven Base has worked with family-held manufacturers, regional retailers, and professional practices preparing for ownership change across Australia — with a base in Laura, South Australia.
Guides
Notes on succession timing and structure
When Founders Delay Naming a Successor
Postponing the successor conversation rarely protects the firm. It usually shifts pressure onto managers, spouses, and the next generation at the worst moment.
Separating Ownership from Day-to-Day Control
Shareholders and managers are not the same role. Firms that confuse them struggle when a non-working owner wants dividends while an employed sibling runs the floor.