From Pre-SDE
to SDE to EBITDA:
Where the Rajang
Economy Gets Built.
We find businesses before the numbers are clean, acquire them at SDE multiples, and convert them into auditable, owner-independent EBITDA assets. That three-stage journey is the entire mandate.
Pre-SDE → SDE → EBITDA:
The Three Stages of Value
Most micro-SMEs in this corridor sit at Pre-SDE — cash is real but the numbers are informal, owner-tangled, and unauditable. Our mandate starts there and ends at institutional EBITDA.
We source businesses before they are packaged for sale — cash-flowing operations where the owner has never separated personal spending from business profit, and where no broker has yet arrived. This is where the real entry advantage is found.
- Owner-operated, 10–25 year operating history
- Revenue real, but financials informal and owner-tangled
- No formal SDE or EBITDA calculation — priced on feel
- Sourced through relationships, not brokers or listings
We acquire at SDE multiples — the valuation language of owner-operated businesses. At this stage, the business is still a job: the owner is the operations. That is by design. Buying a job at job prices is the entry point for the conversion that follows.
- Structured LOI and due diligence on SDE basis
- Seller financing covering the majority of consideration
- Transition window with founder advisory arrangement
- Baseline financial reporting initiated immediately at close
SDE is what the owner takes home. EBITDA is what the market will pay for. We build EBITDA by formalizing supplier accounts, eliminating unrecorded cash, standardizing pricing, and installing a management layer that removes the owner from operations entirely.
- Owner-independent: management-run, not founder-run
- Auditable financials: monthly P&L, cash flow, EBITDA statement
- EBITDA growth from cost and efficiency gains — not revenue assumptions
- Eligible for trade sale, secondary buyout, or long-term hold
At Pre-SDE, the business has cash flows but no clean numbers. At SDE, we have a valuation basis — but we're still buying a job. The mandate is the journey from there to EBITDA: formalizing supplier accounts to lower costs, standardizing pricing to capture margin, eliminating unrecorded cash transactions, and installing the management layer that makes the business owner-independent. The result: the price we paid at SDE entry feels like 2× within 12–18 months — not because the valuation changed, but because the earnings expanded.
SDE is what the owner takes home. EBITDA is what the market will pay for. The gap between them is where we work.
(SDE-based)
(Post-EBITDA Growth)
(Institutional EBITDA)
The multiples shown (3.5×, ~2×, 5–7×) are illustrative scenarios based on our operational methodology. They do not represent guaranteed, projected, or historical returns for any specific investment. Actual outcomes will vary materially. This information is directed solely at Sophisticated Investors under CMSA 2007 Schedules 6 & 7 and does not constitute an offer of securities or financial advice.
Currently evaluating three businesses across the corridor
We are presently in active evaluation across food & beverage and wholesale distribution — sectors with deep community roots, long operating histories, and real, recurring cash flows. Deal details are shared exclusively with attested partners following a direct private introduction.
under evaluation
primary sector focus
in operation
Full mandate details — financials, deal structure, and co-investment terms — are available to verified partners only, shared directly and privately after an initial conversation.
Request a Private Introduction →Pre-SDE to SDE.
SDE to EBITDA.
regional focus
The full journey: Pre-SDE, SDE, and EBITDA
Eastern Rajang Capital finds businesses before the numbers are clean, acquires them at SDE multiples, and builds them into auditable, owner-independent EBITDA assets — in the Rajang corridor of Sarawak, where no institutional firm is looking.
We specialize in businesses generating RM100,000 to RM200,000 in annual SDE. That is a deliberate choice. At this level, competition from institutional buyers is negligible, entry valuations reflect a job — not an asset — and the conversion to EBITDA creates compounding, measurable value.
Read more about us →
The three-stage
value journey.
Every acquisition we make starts at Pre-SDE — informal, owner-tangled, undervalued. We price it at SDE, acquire it at a job multiple, and convert it into EBITDA. That is the entire thesis, applied to a single well-defined corridor where institutional capital is absent.
Across the Rajang corridor, a generation of founder-operators is approaching the end of their working lives with no natural successor and no formal books. These businesses are priced on SDE — what the owner takes home — because that is the only number that exists.
We arrive before the broker does. We acquire at SDE multiples — 2–4× — with seller-financed structures that reflect the job-like nature of the business at entry. The EBITDA conversion is the work that follows.
SDE is what the owner takes home. EBITDA is what the market will pay for. The gap between them — owner add-backs, informal cash, undocumented supplier terms, key-person dependency — is where our operational work creates value that no financial engineering can replicate.
We build EBITDA by installing systems, formalizing accounts, documenting processes, and replacing owner dependency with a management layer. These changes alone — without heroic growth assumptions — expand earnings and unlock institutional exit valuations.
Pre-SDE to SDE
to EBITDA.
We originate before the numbers exist, acquire when the business is still a job, and build until it is an asset. Each stage demands a different discipline — and we apply all three.
We find businesses before they are packaged for sale — directly, through local relationships, off-market. At this stage, the cash is real but the numbers are informal. That is the point. We price what we find, not what a broker presents.
We acquire at SDE multiples — 2.0×–3.5× — using seller-financed structures that align incentives with the founder. At entry, the business is owner-dependent by design. We buy a job at job prices. The conversion starts the day we close.
Immediately post-acquisition, we retain staff, maintain client relationships, and ensure the business operates without disruption. We do not restructure before we understand. The baseline financial reporting we initiate here becomes the foundation for everything that follows.
We install POS systems to capture unrecorded cash, formalize supplier accounts to improve margin structure, document processes to transfer founder knowledge, and install a management layer to remove owner dependency. SDE becomes EBITDA. The job becomes an asset.
Businesses with durable demand
We focus on sectors with recurring or predictable revenue, loyal customer bases, and straightforward operations. Complexity is a risk at this scale. We prefer businesses that are simple, essential, and defensible.
Maintenance contracts, facilities management, and essential services with recurring, predictable income streams.
Accounting, secretarial, training, and specialist advisory practices with established client relationships.
Community-rooted FMCG, food businesses, and retail operators serving consistent, captive demand along the corridor.
The Rajang corridor advantage
Formal capital has little presence in this corridor. That gap is precisely where patient, informed investors have the most durable advantage.
The Rajang River is Malaysia's longest inland trade route. Infrastructure development and port expansion position the region for long-term growth.
Most industries in this corridor are served by small, independent operators. Disciplined roll-up and partnership strategies can create outsized value.
Our on-the-ground presence and community relationships provide access to information that remote investors simply cannot obtain.
Built for those who understand the gap
Pre-qualified strategic partners participate alongside our own capital on a deal-by-deal basis. You see the acquisition at SDE, the operational plan, and the projected EBITDA conversion. All enquiries are handled privately and directly via email.
Begin a Conversation →If you have spent years building a business and the cash flow is real but the books are informal — you are exactly who we look for. We offer a structured transition that respects what you built and converts it into something that outlasts you.
Estimate your valuation →Begin a conversation →
We work with accountants, lawyers, brokers, and community intermediaries with visibility into owner-operated businesses at the Pre-SDE or SDE stage. Our mandate is clearly defined — if the books are informal but the cash is real, we want to hear about it.
Submit a Deal →
"SDE is what the owner takes home.
EBITDA is what the market will pay for.
The gap between them is where we work."