The Cleveland Local Office Utilizes Creative Tax Structure to
Facilitate Shareholder Buy-Out

The Challenge: The Company had recently introduced a new and highly successful product line and was poised for significant growth. In order to capitalize on this opportunity, it would require additional resources and capital investment. In addition, the Company needed to address an eventual succession strategy with its multiple owners.

Analysis and Solution: The Cleveland local office was engaged by the Company to help identify the options available to the owners and implement a win-win solution. We analyzed the situation and facilitated a productive discussion regarding enterprise values and alternatives. It was determined that the preferred outcome would be for the foreign owner to buy out the other shareholders, but the parties were unable to agree on the right valuation. By having a strong background in both negotiating acquisitions and an understanding of important tax planning techniques we were able to find the transaction structure that maximized the net-after tax cash paid to the sellers but did not increase the net cash required by the buyers and allowed the transaction to move forward. We then worked with legal counsel for all parties to orchestrate the production and review of legal agreements and facilitate the cross-border transaction closing.

Above are details related to a transaction completed by members of our Cleveland local office, while operating as Cohen Capital Advisors, Ltd.