Worker Cooperatives & Employee Ownership
Sell Your Business. Pay Zero Taxes. Secure Your Legacy
Exit on your own terms with a capital gains-free transaction and transition to employee-ownership. Reward your team and protect your company’s future.
Succession planning isn’t simple. Owners wrestle with:
Who will purchase my business from me?
Will a buyer show up when I’m ready to step away?
Will my life’s work become unrecognizable in someone else’s hands?
What will happen to my employees—the people who built this with me?
Will I receive enough from the sale to retire securely?
And what about the tax bill—will it take away what I’ve earned?
There is a better way. Business owners across the U.S. are exploring new ways to secure succession, reward employees, and preserve their legacy, all while diversifying personal wealth entirely tax-free and building lasting community impact.
Employee ownership offers a powerful set of tools — from ESOPs to worker cooperatives to hybrid structures — that allow businesses to stay locally rooted while providing a clear path to retirement and and tax-free value preservation for entrepreneurs.
Why Employee Ownership?
Wealth & Tax Advantage
Sell your business without paying capital gains taxes using the 1042 rollover, converting your equity into a diversified portfolio for retirement. IRS Code 1042 is a provision that allows owners to defer capital gains taxes when selling to an employee-owned entity, under certain conditions.
Flexibility
Sell at a strategic or financial valuation, decide on your exit timeline (selling all at once or over time), without a personal guarantee to access your equity depending on your exit pathway.
Legacy & Mission
Ensure your company's values and culture endure. Reward the employees who helped build your success and keep the business rooted in its community.
Operational Success & Stability
Worker- and employee-owned companies often see increased productivity, innovation, and retention, setting the stage for long-term stability and growth.
Why Triple Beam
While the concept is powerful, the transaction and its capitalization may be complex.
Triple Beam Advisors helps companies evaluate all potential succession options with a focus on clarity, numbers, and execution. We move beyond theory to provide the financial clarity, community organizing, and deal making expertise needed to transition your business to it’s next phase.
Whether you are a Main Street small business looking for a retirement solution, a family office evaluating alternatives to private equity, or a transaction advisor seeking better outcomes for clients, we provide feasibility analysis, structuring, fundraising and transaction support.
Our team has deep experience across multiple industries and transaction types, including real estate, consumer packaged goods, and cooperatives. In particular, we are one of the few firms in the country with deep, proven expertise in executing tax-free sales to worker cooperatives via the 1042 rollover.
Our Process & Services
Our Team of Transaction & Employee-Ownership Experts guides you & your team through the entire process:
Feasibility Analysis: We crunch the numbers to determine if employee ownership is the right path for you and your business.
Structure & Design: We design the optimal ownership model (Co-op, ESOP, Hybrid) and transaction structure tailored to your goals.
Capital & Financing: Working with our deep network of cooperative and small business lenders, we underwrite your business in order to secure the necessary capital and navigate SBA loans, senior debt, and seller financing.
Transaction Support: We manage the entire closing process, ensuring a seamless transition for you and your employees.
Wealth & Governance Transition: We connect you with our curated network of trusted partners — wealth managers to execute your 1042 rollover (if applicable) and cooperative experts to provide ongoing governance support, ensuring your newly employee-owned company is set for long-term success.
Example Worker Co-op Conversions
Case Study 1: $20M West Coast Home Healthcare Legacy Preserved
Deal Snapshot: $20mm EV / $2.5mm EBITDA | Family-Owned Firm
The owner of a multi-generational home healthcare business wanted to retire while keeping the company in employee hands. By transitioning through a 1042 rollover cooperative conversion, they eliminated capital gains on the sale, secured a long-term, tax-deferred income stream, and preserved the company’s local jobs and legacy.
Outcome: Owner avoided ~$6M in capital gains via a 1042 cooperative conversion, with no personal guarantees required.
Case Study 2: $3M Island-based Courier Service, Business Equity Accessed
Deal Snapshot: $3mm EV / $500k EBITDA | Single-Owner Transportation Logistics & Warehousing Business
A retiring owner of a regional courier service wanted both financial security and continuity for employees. With a cooperative conversion, they rolled proceeds into a leveraged retirement account managed by our partner, creating a portfolio three times larger than the initial sale value. Employees gained ownership of the company, and the seller achieved a tax-deferred exit without compromising succession.
Outcome: Owner rolled transaction proceeds into a retirement account with 3x leverage, creating a diversified nest egg while permanently deferring capital gains on the seller’s note.
Is Employee Ownership Right for Me & My business?
Employee ownership isn’t for everyone. It works best when:
Your business is consistently profitable and can support outside financing OR you’re willing to self-fund your exit.
You have a strong management team in place, have a successor ready to step up, OR are willing to engage in a leadership search for a successor.
You’re prepared for a 3–6 month transition process with added owner involvement.
You understand that most transactions use borrowed funds, so the upfront cash-out may be smaller, with payouts structured through a mix of 1042 rollover reinvestments, seller notes, or preferred equity.
You want to capture major tax advantages, preserve your legacy, and reward employees.
“The status quo for business succession is broken. Selling to private equity often dismantles legacy, and even finding a values-aligned buyer via a traditional sale can saddle you with a massive tax bill.
Triple Beam offers a third path: a proven, tax-advantaged transition to employee ownership. With one of the country's leading track records in co-op 1042 rollovers, we don't just advise—we design and execute exits that reward owners, protect teams, and keep communities intact.”
— Eduardo Cabral, Associate Partner