Ohio Based A/E Firm Sponsors New ESOP
Summit, NJ: Pilot Hill Advisors is pleased to announce that ms consultants, inc. (www.msconsultants.com) recently completed a leveraged ESOP transaction whereby two senior shareholders tendered their shares to a newly-formed employee ownership trust. As a result of this transition, the ESOP has become a minority shareholder of the firm.
With offices in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and North Carolina, ms consultants is a large engineering, architecture and planning firm that provides a range of services to public and private clients throughout the US. Its engineering services are focused on the transportation, water, environmental, commercial and energy sectors. Its architecture and planning groups provide services in support of these core service sectors.
The ESOP transaction allowed the sellers to tender their stock at a fair market value and defer their capital gain taxes. It will allow the company to reduce the redemption cost by deducting the value of principal payments on the loan used to finance the sale. Finally, it enabled 300 employees to supplement their retirement savings and participate in the ownership growth of the business.
Commenting on the completion of this important event, CEO Tom Mosure said “We are proud to add to our corporate culture an economic incentive that dovetails with the way our loyal employees already think about and treat their firm. We all now have a stake at seeing the company continue to grow together”.
Pilot Hill Advisors’ Bob Massengill worked closely with the senior managers over a period of months to identify the optimal transaction structure, raise the financing for the deal and help lead the various parties to a successful close. The firm has retained Bob to continue as an ESOP advisor as the fiduciaries become acquainted with their new benefit plan.