Leveraged ESOP transactions provide shareholders, companies, executives and employees with a number of federal tax incentives and are steadily growing in popularity among American business owners, corporate boards and management teams seeking a comprehensive liquidity and business succession strategy. However, leveraged ESOP transactions are governed by complex sets of federal rules and regulations that must be carefully considered before structuring and consummating a transaction.
We serve as special ESOP counsel to corporate boards across the nation. We counsel corporate boards on best practices relating to leveraged ESOP transactions and obligations and potential liability under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. We assist in structuring and implementing leveraged ESOP transactions in an effort to maximize our client’s objectives while mitigating potential liability.
In addition, we represent ERISA fiduciaries in connection with leveraged ESOP transactions. We counsel our fiduciary clients regarding their ERISA fiduciaries duties as they are implicated by proposed transaction structures and the findings from our legal due diligence reviews and analyses of the proposed transaction structure and corporate entities involved.