You need more than a broker. You need an advisor who understands every structure available to you and has the experience to execute the right one.
Most business owners work with a generalist when they need a specialist. An exit planning advisor should understand valuation, deal structure, tax strategy, and how to keep the people and culture you’ve built intact through the transition. That’s what MBO Ventures does.
Business Owners
- You’re 1–5 years from a planned exit
- You want to understand all your options before committing to one
- You’re concerned about the tax impact of selling your business
- You want your team and culture protected through the transition
Referring Advisors
- You’re a CPA, attorney, or wealth manager with business-owner clients
- You’re looking for a trusted exit advisory firm to refer or co-advise with
- Your clients are asking questions about ESOPs, IBOs, or tax-efficient exits
- You want a partner who complements your work rather than competes with it
What Does an Exit Planning Advisor Do?
An exit planning advisor helps business owners design and execute a transition from their company, whether that is a sale, an employee buyout, a family succession, or a combination. A good advisor does far more than find a buyer. They evaluate your options across multiple exit structures, model the tax impact of each, help you understand your company’s true market value, and coordinate the legal, financial, and operational components of the transaction.
MBO Ventures goes further than most: we bring an investment banking mindset to every engagement, which means we’re modeling deal economics, not just facilitating paperwork. And unlike generalist advisors, we specialize in the structures that keep ownership inside the company — ESOPs, independent buyouts, and management transitions — which tend to produce better after-tax outcomes for sellers and better long-term results for companies.
Why MBO Ventures
- We led the first cannabis ESOP transaction in the country. No other exit advisory firm has that credential.
- We don’t lead with one structure. We evaluate ESOPs, independent buyouts, succession plans, and valuation-first approaches, and we recommend based on your company’s actual situation.
- Darren Gleeman’s background is in quantitative finance and mid-market investment banking. Most exit consultants are former attorneys or accountants. We approach every deal with a capital markets mindset.
- We work alongside your existing advisors: your CPA, your attorney, your estate planner. We’re not trying to replace them. We’re the specialist they call when the exit question gets complex.
Our Process — How We Work With Clients
- Step 1
We start with a free consultation to understand your goals, your timeline, and your company’s structure. No pitch, no pressure. Just an honest conversation about what options are realistic for your situation. - Step 2
We assess your company’s current value and model what different exit structures would actually produce in after-tax dollars, not headline price. Most owners are surprised by what they find. - Step 3
We design the right exit structure for your goals. That might be an ESOP, an independent buyout, a succession plan, or a combination. We bring in the legal, financial, and lending partners needed to execute. - Step 4
We coordinate the full transaction: trustees, lenders, valuators, and legal counsel, and we stay involved post-close. Your team and company don’t get handed off to someone who wasn’t there for the planning.
Services Overview
- ESOP Advisory: The most tax-efficient exit for qualifying C corporations.
- Independent Buyout: Sell to your team. Keep ownership inside the company.
- Business Valuation: Know what you’re worth before anyone else tells you.
- Succession Planning: Design what happens when you step back
- Capital Gains Tax Strategy: Understand your tax exposure and reduce what you’ll owe at closing.
FAQs
What does an exit planning advisor do?
An exit planning advisor helps business owners design and execute a transition from their company. This includes evaluating exit structure options such as a sale, ESOP, independent buyout, or succession plan, modeling the after-tax impact of each option, establishing an accurate business valuation, and coordinating the legal, financial, and operational components of the transaction. At MBO Ventures, our advisors bring an investment banking background to this process, focusing on deal economics and after-tax proceeds rather than just transaction paperwork.
When should I hire a business exit consultant?
The right time to engage a business exit consultant is two to five years before you plan to exit. That runway gives you time to optimize your company’s structure, address any financial or operational issues that affect valuation, and run a thorough, unpressured process. Owners who wait until they’re ready to leave immediately often end up with fewer options and less leverage. That said, if you’re already in the process or closer to your timeline, it’s still worth having a conversation. There may be structures and tax strategies available that you haven’t considered
What is the difference between an exit planning advisor and a business broker?
A business broker’s primary job is to find a buyer for your company. An exit planning advisor’s job is broader: they help you determine the right exit structure, prepare your business for the transaction, model the financial and tax outcomes of different approaches, and coordinate all the professional parties involved in the deal. MBO Ventures focuses specifically on owner-to-team transitions and tax-efficient exit structures, including ESOPs and independent buyouts, which most brokers don’t handle.
What is an independent buyout and how does it differ from an ESOP?
An independent buyout is a transaction in which the business is sold to an internal group: the management team, employees, or a combination, rather than to an outside buyer. An ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) is the most tax-efficient implementation of an independent buyout: it uses a federally authorized trust structure that allows C corporation sellers to defer capital gains tax indefinitely under Section 1042, and gives 100% ESOP-owned S corporations a zero federal income tax rate. Not every independent buyout qualifies for ESOP structure, but for those that do, the tax advantages are substantial. MBO Ventures evaluates both options for every client.
How do business transition advisors help with taxes on a business sale?
Tax planning is one of the most important parts of exit advisory. A business sale can trigger federal capital gains tax, depreciation recapture at ordinary income rates, the net investment income tax, and state-level taxes, often adding up to 30 to 40 percent of the proceeds. A skilled exit planning advisor models these tax exposures before any deal is structured and identifies strategies to reduce or defer them. For qualifying sellers, an ESOP with a Section 1042 election can defer capital gains tax indefinitely. MBO Ventures works with your tax counsel to make sure the structure of the transaction reflects your actual after-tax goals.
Does MBO Ventures work with CPAs, attorneys, and other advisors?
Yes. MBO Ventures regularly works alongside CPAs, estate attorneys, wealth managers, and business attorneys as a specialist partner rather than a replacement. If your client is asking about exit structures, ESOPs, independent buyouts, or the tax implications of a business sale and those questions are outside your primary expertise, we’re a firm you can refer them to or co-advise with. We’re transparent about our role, we coordinate with existing advisors rather than competing with them, and we communicate throughout the process.
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We invite you to call us with any questions you have or email us by filling out the form below. No question is too big or too small – whether you have a question about MBO Ventures or a question about ESOPs.