202: Steve Deis, Lazear Capital Partners

Bret Keisling is joined by Steve Deis, managing director of Lazear Capital Partners, who describes the role of investment banking in ESOP transactions, and how Lazear can manage the process from the feasibility study to the completed transaction.

This episode was recorded live at NCEO's Annual EO Conference in Seattle, Washington in April 2022.

Listen to this episode on Soundcloud or subscribe on Google Play or iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

The ESOP Podcast is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND Creative Commons License.

Episode 202 Show Notes

About Steve Deis, Managing Director:

Steve Deis is a Managing Director with Lazear Capital based in California. With over 25 years in the financial services and investment banking industry, Steve is passionate about helping privately held business owners discover the breadth of business succession options based on the unique objectives for their family, company, and employees. Steve's personal experience as a proud 4th generation member of a family agricultural business is central to his core tenets as a professional.

About Lazear Capital Partners:

The professionals at Lazear Capital Partners are nationally recognized for their expertise in designing and implementing plans. Lazear Capital has deep experience in tax structuring. They offer feasibility analysis, transaction structuring and execution services.

Feasibility Analysis - In conjunction with other corporate advisors, Lazear Capital can help determine if an ESOP makes sense, determining an initial range of value, designing a preliminary structure, understanding financing options and determining estimated proceeds for the seller.

Transaction Structure - Lazear Capital professionals explore the ideal structure for each company, which includes understanding shareholder and employee objectives, exploring tax implications and structuring the deal to allow for maximum flexibility for the company post-closing.

Execution - Selling to an ESOP involves a number of professionals who have different expertise. Lazear’s M&A and Corporate Finance expertise enables the firm to address issues that arise and to provide a highly customized solution. It is also important to assemble the right team to structure the transaction optimally and to enable it to go smoothly. Lazear Capital are well integrated into the ESOP community and are skilled at assembling a team that works well together.

Lazear's recent blog post about ESOPs and the retirement crisis can be found here.

We'd love to hear from you! To contact us, find us on Facebook at EO Podcast Network and on Twitter @ESOPPodcast. To reach Bret, with one "T", email Bret@KEISOP.com, on LinkedIn at Bret Keisling, and most actively on Twitter at @EO_Bret. Again, that's one "T". This podcast has been produced by Bret Keisling for the EO Podcast Network, original music composed by Max Keisling, branding and marketing by BitsyPlus Design.

Standard Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are my own and don't represent those of my own firms or the organizations to which I belong. Nothing in the podcast should be construed as guidance or advice of any kind in any field and the fact that I mentioned an organizational website or an advocate or a company on a podcast does not reflect an endorsement, but if you've heard your name or your group's name mentioned on this podcast, I'd love to have you come on and talk about it yourself.