CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With income inequality in the United States at record high levels, employee ownership is increasingly being lauded as a potential solution to spreading wealth more broadly. Most recently, research from the National Center for Employee Ownership released in May shows that employee ownership holds particularly strong benefits for younger workers aged 28 – 34; worker-owners in this age group have household net worth that is 92 percent higher than non-employee owners. They also make 33 percent higher wages, and are far less likely to be laid off.
But employee ownership requires new investment in order to get to scale. A new report by Mary Ann Beyster, president and trustee of the Foundation for Enterprise Development (“FED”), published by the Fifty by Fifty initiative of The Democracy Collaborative, examines the investing landscape for potential opportunities in employee ownership. The report, titled “Impact Investing and Employee Ownership,” dives into the results from six months of research, showing that the opportunities for impact investors to support employee ownership are limited, but that an investing infrastructure is beginning to emerge across asset classes. Among the key leading opportunities for investment are community development financial institutions (CDFIs), private equity funds, and one mutual fund.
“Employee-owned companies ground wealth locally, stabilize communities, and offer impact investors a direct way to benefit their own communities,” Ms. Beyster said. “We found that what is needed is more awareness of the benefits of employee ownership and more attention to building the needed investment infrastructure.”
In the report, Mosaic Capital Partners (“Mosaic”) is highlighted as one of two private equity funds that focus on employee ownership. Through Mosaic’s ESOP Leveraged Buyout, the firm is able to create new employee owners with every transaction. The report underscores Mosaic’s “positive impact” on domestic job creation through the firm’s commitment to helping selling owners achieve wealth transfer and ownership transition to employees.
Managing Partner Steve Buchanan is quoted at a Rutgers University conference on employee ownership, “Private equity is generally after the highest price. By contrast, we believe an ESOP Leveraged Buyout can deliver the fairest price and fairest value.” In the first three years of its debut Fund, Mosaic has supported over 1,500 employee-owners in its five ESOP investments.
About Mary Ann Beyster
Mary Ann Beyster is president and trustee of the Foundation for Enterprise Development (“FED”), a private, nonprofit operating foundation established in 1986 to advance entrepreneurship and science and technology innovation through broad-based ownership.
About Democracy Collaborative
The Democracy Collaborative is dedicated to developing new ways to build community wealth and stronger local economies, including through networks like Fifty by Fifty, a collaboration driving towards fifty million employee owners in the U.S. by 2050.
About Mosaic Capital Partners, LLC
Mosaic Capital Partners, LLC (“Mosaic”) is a $164 million private equity fund focused on lower middle market ESOP leveraged buyouts. The principals of Mosaic have substantial experience executing leveraged buyouts in the lower middle market, specifically businesses with $10 million to $100 million in revenue and have a unique expertise in ESOP leveraged buyouts, having executed over 100 ESOP transactions. Mosaic has offices in the Midwest and East Coast and is headquartered in Charlotte, NC. Mosaic aims to help business owners achieve liquidity, wealth transfer and ownership transition goals by offering capital and strategic guidance.