Business View Magazine - Dec 2023

Regardless, these intricacies all need to be meticulouslymanaged,and it takesastute leadership and effective communication between a committed and involved seller, board and management team to ensure the organization’s prosperity. Fortunately, Prairie Capital Advisors has played a dynamic role in guiding hundreds of companies through this exact process, earning itself a reputation for operational excellence. The company has demonstrated an aptitude for strategic advisory that underscores a deeper commitment to helping privately held businesses transition with confidence. Their unique approaches, especially considering their first-hand knowledge of ESOP transitions, show that with the right strategy and unwavering dedication, companies can create a vibrant future for themselves and their workforce. A COMPANY ROOTED IN OWNERSHIP TRANSITION Prairie Capital Advisors was founded in 1996 by Kenneth Serwinski and Robert Gross. The two founders previously worked at Merrill Lynch, advising on a myriad of ownership transition strategies. However, ultimately Merrill Lynch decided to focus on deal sizes that eliminated much of the middle market customer base the Ken and Bob had been serving. They felt that there was a large void in professional and holistic ownership transition advisory in the lower end of the middle market, which inspired their decision to establish Prairie Capital Advisors. In 2012, after reviewing their own transition needs, the two founders concluded that an ESOP would be the best for their own company. This decision became the catalyst for a ten-year transition into their current ESOP structure. Prairie’s primary focus has always been on helping privately held business owners transition into the most beneficial structure for themselves and their companies. For Prairie, the ESOP structure proved to be ideal. Prairie’s ownership transition focus continues to be strategically agnostic between, mergers & acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, family transitions and ESOP. Their goal is to educate clients on the financial, operational and psychological aspects of each strategy to ensure clients choose the ideal strategy for their specific situation. That said, as an ESOP owned company Prairie is uniquely positioned to advise companies on ESOP structures, as its existence as an ESOP allows it to embody the spirit of the advice it gives its clients. However, it goes without saying that much of what they do touches employee ownership in some way, especially considering their strong foundation in providing valuation advice to ESOP trustees via conducting hundreds of valuations every year. In fact, because of this invaluable practice, Prairie was named the USA Valuations & Opinions Firm of the Year by the M&A Atlas Awards in 2019, 2020, 165 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 12 PRAI RI E CAPI TAL ADVISORS