Summary: Our ESOP team successfully structured a $6 million leveraged buyout that transitioned ownership of a high-end home building company from its founder to 25 full-time employees. The transaction provided ownership opportunities for employees while establishing management succession and financial security for the selling shareholder.
The Challenge: Our client, a high-end home builder serving affluent customers in the mid-Atlantic region, needed to transition from single founder ownership to a sustainable ownership structure that would ensure business continuity and reward long-term employees. The founder sought financial security through the sale while maintaining the company's operational excellence and providing meaningful ownership opportunities for the 25-person workforce. The transaction required sophisticated structuring to balance the founder's exit objectives with employee ownership goals and company cash flow capabilities.
Our Strategy: We designed a comprehensive $6 million leveraged ESOP transaction that achieved multiple client objectives simultaneously. Our approach focused on structuring a tax-efficient leveraged buyout that provided the founder with a secure exit while enabling employee ownership without requiring individual employee capital contributions. We developed a management succession plan integrated with the ESOP structure to ensure seamless leadership transition and operational continuity for the high-end home building operations serving the company's affluent customer base.
The Result: We successfully implemented a $6 million leveraged ESOP that gave all 25 full-time employees meaningful ownership stakes in the company while securing the founder's financial future. The transaction established a sustainable management succession framework that preserved the company's market position in high-end home building while creating long-term wealth-building opportunities for employee-owners. The ESOP structure demonstrates our ability to design creative employee ownership solutions that serve multiple stakeholder interests while ensuring business continuity and employee engagement.
