Macquarie Capital

ESOPs and private equity

Discover how ESOPs may hold unrealised investment opportunities for private equity in a three-part series from Macquarie Capital and Mayer Brown.

The ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) universe tends to be misunderstood by many and has not been heavily pursued by the private equity (PE) community. Despite this, ESOPs may represent an opportunity for PE sponsors to broaden their investment universe and take advantage of superior investment opportunities with high-quality companies that can benefit greatly from a growth-oriented investment partner.

In this three-part series, Macquarie Capital and Mayer Brown offer clarity into the ESOP structure and examine potential considerations for PE investors, including: 

  • the perceived all-or-nothing ESOP ownership structure 
  • investment opportunities that ESOPs present
  • ESG alignment for ESOP investments 
  • the ESOP capital structure and financing alternatives.


ESOPs and private equity: an untapped market
(Part 1 of 3)

July 11, 2022

Learn how the PE community can leverage the ESOP structure to drive employee/shareholder alignment.

Download report

Parts 2 and 3 will be made available in due course.

About Macquarie Capital

Macquarie Capital combines specialist expertise, innovative advice and flexible capital solutions to help our clients and partners make opportunity reality.

Our global corporate M&A, advisory, investing, development and equities capabilities are underpinned by deep sector expertise and a full spectrum of capital solutions from debt, equity, and private capital raising and financing to investing our own capital to enable new opportunities.

Learn more