M&A advisor BCMS announces new ownership structure with creation of EOT to ‘benefit staff and clients alike’  

The EOA congratulates Thames Valley-based corporate finance advisor BCMS after it announced its transition to employee ownership.

BCMS, which specialises in advising privately owned businesses on company sale transactions, is now majority owned by its employees, under an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) model. The majority shareholding has been acquired from the founders of the business, on behalf of its employees.

The change in ownership is the latest positive news for BCMS, which has completed a number of sizeable transactions in 2022, and posted its highest end-of-year profits since 2016.

Jonathan Dunn, CEO at BCMS who led the EOT initiative, said: “This is fantastic news for BCMS and our clients and allows us – as employees – to really drive and deliver our future success. We’re now all in this together, officially, as co-owners.

“The new structure engages colleagues across all roles here at BCMS, encourages an even greater sense of belonging and unity and allows every employee to benefit financially from our ongoing success.

“We’re also expecting to attract new talent to join us as they seek to further their careers and enjoy the numerous benefits of this approach.

“We believe this new ownership structure will give us a number of advantages over competitors and allow us to connect even more strongly with our entrepreneurial client base. After all, just like our clients, we are all now business owners too.”

The Rebbettes family, founding shareholders of BCMS who established the company in 1989, will retain a sizeable minority stake.

Dave, Steve and Brian Rebbettes commented: “We’ve enjoyed seeing BCMS evolve under the current management team, and now is the perfect time for the whole staff base to literally take ownership of our future success and direction. It is exciting to see the business we started move on to the next chapter.”

BCMS was advised by Cooper Cavendish on the transaction and is a member of the Employee Ownership Association (EOA).

About BCMS

BCMS is a specialist M&A advisor, working exclusively with the shareholders of privately owned companies seeking growth capital or a business sale. Based in Newbury, Berkshire, and first established in 1989, BCMS has completed hundreds of transactions in its trading history.

BCMS’ track record of deals covers a wide range of sectors and deal structures, from full company sales to strategic trade acquirers in the UK and overseas, to growth capital transactions and/or cash-out deals with private equity investors.

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