Tag Archives: ESOP

What Should You Look For in Selling a Company? Eleven Points

Situation: The owners of a company wish to sell the company. The CEO is 50% owner and some senior employees are partial owners. Ideally the CEO wants to maintain the company’s culture for the good of the employees. What should the CEO look for in an acquiring company or a merger? What pitfalls should be avoided?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Key Considerations – Define the exit objectives. Understand that pursuing an exit will take time away from other activities. Know your buyer’s team.
  • Stakeholder Alignment – Make sure various stakeholders agree in advance on exit objectives.
  • “Keep an eye on the ball” – Selling a company can be a distraction. Focus on running the company, not on the novelty of selling.
  • Watch Out for Deal-Killer Individual – One member told of a CFO of a buyer company who sabotaged a sale at the last minute.
  • Qualify the Buyer’s Decision Process – It is valuable to understand the process that the buying company will follow to made the acquisition.
  • Broker or M&A Specialist? – About 50% of private party deals are not handled by a broker. These are sales within the industry. Few sales to insiders, such as employees or family, are handled by brokers. The same is true for synergistic companies that are already familiar with each other.
  • Avoid Over Reliance on a Broker – One member told of losing touch with important details of a sale transaction when using a broker. A better alternative was a transaction advisor as opposed to a broker paid by commission.
  • Consider an “Insider” Sale – Some businesses cannot be easily sold to outside buyers. In this case selling to insiders, employees or family may be a good solution. Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), or “S” ESOPs using an S-Corp entity, have been numerous and successful.
  • Consider Private Equity – One member spoke of selling to an investment group or private equity group that specializes in buying smaller companies.
  • Buying on the Come – Buyers look for growth. Showing a history of profitable growth is highly desirable. Having a plan for future growth in place is also valuable.
  • Leverage Strategic Partners to Boost Value – One way to increase equity value is to partner with another company. Examples include a partner that provides greater distribution and sales, or which can validate the viability of a technology. That partner can become a future purchaser.

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What Are Your Five- and Ten-Year Plans? Five Points

Situation: A CEO is considering her exit strategy between five and ten years out. She wants to do what is best both for her, the company and her employees, assuring that both personal and company needs are met and the company is ready for transition. What are your five- and ten-year plans?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The personal side and the company’s future are closely linked. The solutions and strategy must fit both the CEO’s priorities as well as those of the company. By looking at the CEO’s role, the current and future needs of the company, and any changes that need to be made, the CEO is preparing for an eventual exit.
  • The CEO must decide what lifestyle she wants – both as she prepares for eventual exit and as she prepares the company to continue under new leadership.
    • She must decide what she wants to do with her time in an ideal world. What will make her happy as she prepares for the future?
    • This must be considered both for herself and her business partners. Have conversations to align both business and personal expectations.
    • Conduct a strategic planning retreat on the future of the company as well as the transition of leadership.
    • Have a talk with significant others to align personal expectations.
  • What changes in leadership are necessary to implement the plan? What are the key roles and who will fill them? What is the succession plan for each key role? Are current personnel in place to fill these roles, or is additional hiring and training necessary?
  • Consider an ESOP or a virtual stock program to enhance employee incentives and sense of ownership in the company’s future.
  • Decide what exit means on a personal level.
    • Transitioning from founder to leader gets the CEO more involved in the company.
    • Meditate on priorities and engage in ongoing discussions with key personnel to jointly plan the future.

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How Do You Strengthen Internal Incentives and Ownership? Four Points

Situation: A technology company has established a leadership position in their niche. Nevertheless, they struggle with individual performance and buy-in to company performance. The CEO asks whether increasing ownership through stock incentives in a non-public company is an effective incentive for employees. How do you strengthen internal incentives and ownership?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • In the past, employees voiced a strong predilection for share ownership as recompense for the personal risk and sweat that they have put into the company.
    • It may be advisable to revisit this, particularly given the increased risk that comes with share ownership as a result of regulatory changes of the last 10 years.
    • As a substitute for share ownership, they may be open to some proxy that will provide them with value and the opportunity to have their opinions heard in the case of a buy-out.
  • Another company looked at this closely at the time of formation. They decided that proper recognition for contribution did not equal ownership. Ownership also entails personal liability and risk, which many don’t realize and, once they understand the implications of owners’ liability, don’t want. As an alternative they adopted a liberal profit-sharing structure that has met with employee enthusiasm.
  • Think about this discussion in terms of incentives:
    • Short Term – Annual-type incentives
      • Make sure that incentives align with desired behaviors so that individuals’ contributions contribute to business plan objectives and the next step for the company.
    • Long Term – consider the trade-offs
      • Share Ownership
        • Broadly distributed share ownership not only complicates future flexibility but may also complicate a buy-out or merger opportunity. Consider the implications of a situation where most shares are in the hands of past rather than current employees.
        • Strategic Partners wishing to invest may be reticent to work with a company with broadly distributed ownership.
      • ESOPs, while frequently referenced, tend to eat their children. They have several complications:
        • They are governed by ERISA, so you cannot discriminate. All must be able to participate.
        • Ownership is prescribed – with a maximum of 10% per employee. Will a future CEO candidate be happy with 10% when the admin assistant gets 3%? In this way ESOPs can impair succession and recruitment plans.
        • Annual valuations can be expensive.
      • Phantom or Synthetic Equity Programs
        • A company can tailor these to meet changing objectives.
        • Valuations are cheap and valuation metrics are easy to monitor.
  • To work through the options, sit and talk with the employees, and listen. Ask what concerns them. Don’t try to come up with a solution until their concerns are understood. There is an array of options available.

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What is Appropriate Compensation for a Founder CEO? Four Points

Situation: A founder CEO established her company with a significant personal loan, which is being repaid. To compensate herself for the original investment, she is considering several options including an employee stock option plan (ESOP) through which employees would be able to establish ownership of a certain percent of the company. What is appropriate compensation for a founder CEO?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The critical question is: what is the CEO’s goal? The next question is – what options best serve to achieve goal?
    • If the goal is long-term goal is maintaining or increasing current income combined with long-term security – like a Trust Fund – seek the counsel of a financial advisor who can help model how the options under consideration will satisfy the goal.
    • This individual can also evaluate the tax advantages associated with various options.
  • Is there a clear exit strategy in place?
    • Every company needs a written exit strategy, as well as a plan to put this strategy into action.
    • The simple existence of a strategy and a plan does not preclude adjusting either the strategy or the plan as conditions or opportunities change.
  • There are two important corollary points:
    • Having a strategy and plan is the only way to build a structure of accountability within the company; and
    • Recalling a lesson from Jim Collins’s book, Good to Great, the successful companies selected a solid strategy and stuck with it; the less successful comparators continually changed strategy and never allowed momentum to build.
  • To assist establishing an exit strategy, seek the advice of one or two consultants. There are several highly qualified exit advisors that can be researched through current professional contacts or via the Internet.

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