Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPS)

The decision to implement an ESOP involves consideration of a myriad of complex financial, valuation, legal, tax, and human resource issues. Some of the major concerns include: What considerations are unique in valuing the company for an ESOP versus a sale to a third party? Will the Company’s qualified payroll be adequate to support the required contributions? What will be the tax implications to the selling owner and to the company? How will the company’s corporate structure (C or S corp.) impact the transaction?

At PVG, we understand that a well documented, independent, unbiased valuation of an ESOP company’s stock is a critical part of the process. ESOP transactions are regulated by the Department of Labor (DOL) and typically have significant tax implications. Therefore, an ESOP valuation must be able to withstand potential challenges from multiple parties including the DOL, the IRS and employees. The ESOP related services provided by PVG include:

• Valuations to determine ESOP feasibility
• Valuations to establish the ESOP and annual valuations for subsequent ESOP transactions/contributions
• Fairness Opinions for ESOP transactions