Employee buyout

An employee buyout (EBO) can make an excellent succession strategy for your business. Ensure your employee buyout is expertly managed from beginning to end with advice from our corporate finance specialists. We help business owners and management teams expertly plan and manage their EBO project from beginning to end.

What is an EBO?

An employee buyout can be a good way of ensuring the future of your business and keeping your legacy intact. The business ownership passes to your employees, in whole or in part, so you can secure the future for your existing workforce.

Unlike a management buyout, in an EBO all employees have a chance to share ownership of the business. It can be a very effective succession strategy for owner managers, as it is highly motivating for the workforce and is less disruptive than a trade sale. It also means no confidential information is disclosed to competitors.

Benefits of an EBO

• The legacy of your business stays intact – the possibility of losing it through a trade sale is avoided
• No adversarial party to negotiate with
• Loyal employees remain in gainful employment. They are able to influence how the business is managed and to share in the future reward
• Tax incentives make an EBO very attractive to the exiting owners as well as the new employee-owners

Your employees can own the business in various ways, either directly or indirectly. This decision is normally based on the size of the business and number of employees. We can advise you on the best option for your business size and type.

The WMT approach

We ensure that your employee buyout is expertly managed all the way through to its successful completion. Once we understand the goals for your EBO, we will work with you to plan how you might achieve them, design your share scheme, and communicate with your employees.

Get in touch to find out more about an employee buyout for your business.