Transition and Succession

Properly planning the transition or succession of your business, whether to a family member or a third party can greatly enhance the value of your business as well as help to avoid the potential of costly tax consequences. Our experience will benefit you with:

• How to successfully exit your company.

• Evaluate alternatives - whether the strategy is to "Keep" the business in the family or with current ownership, or to "Sell" the business to an outsider.

• Positioning the business today to maximize your future strategy and value.

• Should a transfer of the business occur within the family?

• How to handle the active and inactive shareholder roles.

• Perceived return on investments versus compensation.

• Implement Board of advisors/Directors or other strategic committees.

• Income tax planning and coordination.

• Implement executive compensation programs for key management with regard to compensation, alternatives to build equity and benefits.

• Employment contracts for the owners and other key personnel.

• At death, determine if business is to be sold. If so, structure the transaction to maximize the after-tax benefit to the family and other shareholders.

• Shareholder's agreements or stock restriction agreements.

• Proper financial and capital structure.

• Creative methods to extract dollars from the corporation.

• Evaluate public offering and comparison against other capital alternatives.

• Communication of all planning via annual shareholder or family meetings.

• Evaluate all aspects of gifting opportunities.

• Determine the best vehicle to receive these gifts for the benefit of the recipients.

• Valuation opportunities to maximize shareholder and family proceeds.

• Should some of the business interest be sold to family members at a discount? This approach freezes value and takes advantage of current tax and case law.

• Succession planning in the event of premature death. Where will the business go? Who should run it? Who will make the decisions?

• Recapitalize businesses for planning and control purposes.

• Mechanisms to get income to children if active or inactive in the business.

• Transfer of business interest to the next generation. Oftentimes this is done in conjunction with retirement planning for the owner.

• Planning for the next generation of owners.

• Transfer of business interests between partners and their shareholders.

• Does the business owner have sufficient assets apart from the business to step away comfortably?