ESOPs: An Introduction

Did you know that business owners can receive “fair market value” by selling their ownership to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), while at the same time keeping the company independent and potentially deferring any gains from that sale? A 100%-ESOP-owned company can also be structured to pay no federal income taxes and, with a motivated workforce of “employee-owners”, are shown to out-perform other forms of ownership.

An ESOP provides important financial benefits and other competitive advantages to the sponsoring company, allows its employees to receive the financial rewards of ownership, while at the same time providing an attractive business succession plan for selling shareholders. As business owners approach retirement age, many have sold their businesses to their employees through an ESOP. There are now over 6,000 ESOPs in the United States, and the number of participants in ESOPs has grown in recent years.

You’re invited to join our Valuation & Financial Opinion Services Directors Joe Borowski and Craig Hickey to learn what “all the fuss is about.” In this introductory session, designed for business owners and advisors with limited prior knowledge of ESOPs, we will discuss:

• How an ESOP works
• Advantages of ESOP ownership
• Which companies make good ESOP candidates
• Key steps to implementing an ESOP

This webinar qualifies for 1.0 hour of CPE based on Ohio CPE requirements.

Please note our webinar sessions can accommodate a maximum of 500 individuals. Should you experience difficulties accessing the live broadcast, it is likely due to reaching attendee capacity. For your convenience, a recording will be made available on our webinar recording webpage following the presentation.