Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are emerging as significant players in the booming merger and acquisition (M&A) landscape, both as acquirers and targets, according to a new analysis, As M&A Activity Swells, ESOPs Emerge As A Potent New Player. ESOP organizations, after decades of being ignored, are being pursued by private equity backers as well as strategic acquirers (see Private Equity Leans Into The Flexibility Of ESOPs).

And more ESOPs are acquiring. The number of businesses acquired by ESOPs has roughly doubled in recent years (see The ESOP Effect On U.S. Mid-Market Deals). When ESOPs acquire a non-ESOP company, the ‘employee ownership mission’ is expanded. And typically, such acquisitions…