2025 marked a period of meaningful expansion in the ESOP market, underscoring growing confidence in employee ownership as a long-term succession and value-creation strategy.
To support this growing demand and increasing market footprint, we significantly expanded our team and geographic reach. We strengthened our West Coast capabilities with a meaningful presence in California through the additions of Jack C. Freeman and Nora K. Gilhooly, expanded our Midwest coverage with Laurel C. Montag in Wisconsin and deepened our East Coast bench with Greg A. Healey and Chandler B. Penn in Pennsylvania. This strategic team growth enhances our ability to further serve our clients coast to coast.
We advised on more than $1.14 billion in ESOP transaction value, which reflects sustained deal activity and a clear shift toward larger, more complex ESOP transactions. Average deal size increased 39.5% year over year, indicating that ESOPs are being adopted by larger, sophisticated companies as a preferred ownership or business transition solution.
Across this past year’s transactions, we helped employee ownership reach new heights. More than 8,150 employees became owners – 2.7 times more than in 2024 – reinforcing that ESOPs are powerful tools for engagement, retention and wealth creation.
Our work continued to demonstrate the national scale and versatility of ESOPs, with clients operating in more than 30 states across the country. Transactions spanned a wide range of major industries, amplifying the versatility of ESOPs as neither niche nor sector-specific, but rather flexible, industry-agnostic ownership solutions capable of supporting diverse business models and growth strategies.
These trends point to a maturing market that is characterized by larger transactions, broader employee ownership and expanded advisory capabilities. ESOPs are increasingly recognized as impactful and highly adaptable strategies for succession planning, value preservation and long-term business continuity.
Check out our highlights from 2025:
Congratulations to our clients who are fulfilling their ESOP goals. Thank you for selecting the team at SES ESOP Strategies to be your advisors throughout your journey.
For more information, please contact any member of the SES ESOP Strategies team.