Selling a Company to the Employees - One Founder’s Story

Rose is the COO of ButcherJoseph & Co., a family of companies covering multiple lines of business including traditional M&A advisory, ESOP buyouts, private capital, and valuation advisory. Headquartered in St. Louis and nationally recognized as a leader in ESOP transaction advisory services, ButcherJoseph advises middle market companies all over the U.S. in a variety of industries.

Ann is President of Midwest Equipment Company. Midwest is an employee-owned distributor of industry leading food service equipment providing sales & service to commercial food service establishments across a three-state region. After starting her career in corporate account sales for a fortune 500 technology company, Ann moved to middle market where she was Co-President of a national health science book distribution company and a regional cleaning & restoration company. She has served as an advisor & board member to privately held companies & is a volunteer & past board member of Ronald McDonald Charities of St. Louis.

Marie possesses over 30 years of tax and business advisory experience serving middle-market and public companies. She oversees all aspects of tax engagements and is responsible for the proactive delivery of tax services. Marie has provided consultation on tax-related issues for business entities in a variety of industries, including emerging technology and life sciences, manufacturing & distribution, specialty services and real estate.

Rick is a Vice President at ButcherJoseph & Co., a boutique investment banking firm, where he specializes in ESOPs, mergers and acquisitions, private capital sourcing and valuation advisory services for middle market companies.

Jim is CEO and founder of Midwest Equipment Company. The company’s journey began in 1993 when he purchased a 7-employee Taylor food service equipment distribution company. Over 28 years Midwest purchased 3 other distributorships, grew to 72 employees, increased revenue by 1700% and has remained a top-ranked distributor in its network. In 2018, Jim sold the company to the employees through an ESOP, achieving his lifelong goal to reward the people who made Midwest the success it has become. Jim is a passionate fundraiser for numerous St. Louis charities and active committee chair and volunteer for Ronald McDonald Charities of St. Louis.

Mike is the co-head of Moore & Van Allen's Global Services Group. In that role, he provides his corporate transactional clients the accessibility, responsiveness, knowledge and understanding of in-house counsel, coupled with the deep, full-spectrum Moore & Van Allen legal resources and cost-efficiencies.