In the world of corporate tax returns, there are about 6 million tax returns filed each year with about half being C-Corps and the other S-Corps. There are about 15,000 publicly held companies, which means the vast majority of companies are privately held. If you...
Who hasn’t heard of a successful, hard-driving, dominant patriarch, who built a family fortune, watch the family (and business) implode due to family conflicts? For ESOP companies with family in the businesses or closely held businesses, setting up trusts for their...
To maximize the value of a company, reliable projections from a reliable management team is the most common predictor of success. Valuation firms commonly use the "Discounted Cash Flow" or DCF as a key weight in valuating the company's stock value. That is why...
The Corporate Structure ESOP companies who want to convert to subchapter S status must also take care of corporate structural issues on or before the conversion date. For example, if the ESOP was capitalized with more than one class of stock, the second class of stock...
by Kevin G. Long, Esq. Most business owners assume that when they are ready to retire/sell/move on, that all-cash buyers or buyers that let them just walk away will be there. In the real world, however, there are not many buyers that will meet a seller's initial...
The original article appeared in EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN REVIEW. Owners of closely held businesses under-utilize Employee Stock Ownership Plans ("ESOPs") as an ideal vehicle for achieving key business and tax deferral goals. Many of these owners have no exit strategy...
Many engineering and construction firm owners will be retiring in large numbers in the coming years. Those whose children don’t want the family business face a dilemma. With more “baby-boomer” sellers than buyers, buyers are likely to be highly selective and very...
Traditionally, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) are used as a vehicle to facilitate the retirement of the sole (or majority) shareholder of a closely held corporation and to finance business acquisitions. However, ESOPs are sometimes the perfect (and often...
Family-owned businesses, a key pillar in the American economy, make up a significant number of the privately held companies across our country. Although these companies cut across all industries and range in size from small to large, they all share common challenges....
A question we are often asked by business owners in the exit planning process is similar to the following: “Would it be more financially beneficial for me to sell my shares to a strategic buyer or to sell my shares to an employee stock ownership plan and elect tax...