Last month we held grave concerns for consumers as public listed company, InvoCare Limited (ASX: IVC), acquired another community and family owned funeral home, Archer & Sons based in regional Western Australia.
Today we learned that Australia’s largest funeral company will continue its acquisition streak by acquiring Grafton & District Funerals and Clarence Valley Funerals in New South Wales, together known as Grafton & District Funerals.
So let’s summarise InvoCare’s acquisitions of small independent and family owned funeral homes in the past year:
- English Rose with $0.7 million of revenue
- Lester & Son with $3.5 million of revenue
- Hope & Sons with NZ$5.8 million of revenue
- Whitestone with NZ$1 million of revenue
- Southern Highlands with $0.7 million of revenue
- J A Dunn with $1 million of revenue
- Archer & Sons with $2.4 million of revenue
- And now Grafton & District Funerals with $2 million of revenue
What do InvoCare’s aquisitions mean for consumers?
Peter Erceg, Founder of eziFunerals said, “These latest acquisitions by InvoCare may be good news for shareholders, but not for grieving families”.
“InvoCare are reporting higher and higher profits as they continue to increase their footprint and buy out small operators to increase their market share, at the expense of consumers”, he said.
While large providers such as InvoCare can exploit economies of scale for support activities or vertically integrate, the price of an InvoCare funeral is more expensive than other independent funeral homes on average.”
Peter Erceg said “unless consumers know who owns their local funeral home and shop around, they will continue to hit with rising costs and a lack of choice. This is not in the interests of grieving families and family owned funeral homes.”
INVOCARE EXPANDS ITS FOOTPRINT AT THE EXPENSE OF GRIEVING FAMILIES
WILL AUSTRALIA’S FUNERAL WATCHDOG FOLLOW THE UK?
WHO OWNS THE FUNERAL HOME YOU ARE CONSIDERING?
DO WE NEED A ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THE FUNERAL INDUSTRY?
RIP OFF’ CLAIMS FORCE INQUIRY INTO THE FUNERAL INDUSTRY
About eziFunerals
eziFunerals is a free consumer advocacy and funeral planning platform that supports individuals and families cope with end of life decisions, death and funerals. We are an independent, Australian-owned and operated company, and are not a subsidiary of any other corporation. We are not part of any other funeral company. Founded by consumers frustrated by how difficult it was to get independent information, eziFunerals supports consumers plan a funeral, compare prices and select the right funeral director anywhere, anytime.