Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) | Practices

Practice Contacts

A cornerstone of Taft’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice is our extensive experience and work on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). Marshaling the collective interdisciplinary resources of a range of relevant practice groups – Employment and Labor Relations, Business Succession and Estate Planning, Finance, M&A, and Tax, among them – Taft helps clients develop, establish, and maintain ESOPs as a vehicle for helping them accomplish multiple strategic objectives.

Whether a company is considering an ESOP as part of a transition from founder ownership to employee ownership, a leveraged buyout, or a long-term capital strategy, our attorneys have the insights and capabilities needed to navigate the complex and intersecting legal, tax, fiduciary, and regulatory issues inherent in these transactions. Our ESOP attorneys advise privately held companies, shareholders, trustees, lenders, boards of directors, and fiduciaries on every stage of the ESOP lifecycle.

Comprehensive ESOP Counsel

Our end-to-end ESOP counsel provides clients with continuity and a holistic approach tailored specifically to the goals underlying their consideration of an ESOP, from business succession, estate planning, and exit strategies to tax planning opportunities to employee benefit, incentive, and retention efforts. We help clients evaluate whether an ESOP offers the right ownership structure, develop practical implementation strategies, negotiate transaction documents, and guide them through the thicket of ERISA, IRS, DOL, and other federal compliance concerns implicated by ESOPs.

Taft’s comprehensive suite of ESOP services includes:

ESOP transaction planning.
New ESOP formation and design.
Leveraged and non-leveraged ESOP transactions.
Sale of minority or controlling ownership interests to an ESOP.
ESOP corporate governance issues.
ESOP financing and lender negotiations.
ESOP fiduciary compliance counseling for trustees and plan committees.
Executive compensation and incentive arrangements.
ESOP valuation issues.
ESOP tax planning and tax-efficient transaction structures, including state-level ESOP tax incentives and credits.
Ongoing ERISA, Internal Revenue Code, and DOL compliance.
ESOP administration and operational issues.
Mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions involving ESOP-owned companies.
ESOP terminations and restructuring.

Whether evaluating an ESOP as a succession strategy, advising an ESOP trustee, financing an ESOP transaction, or managing an established ESOP-owned company, Taft’s ESOP attorneys provide the strategic legal counsel needed to help clients navigate every phase and nuance of the process with clarity and confidence.