2 March 2005, School of Business, University of Sydney.

Summary of presentations and future directions

Alan Greig and Peter Gates (Mercury Centre) discussed the market for employee ownership in SME business succession in Australia and the “Changing Ownership System” they are researching and developing.

John Day (Remuneration Strategies Group) presented a paper on designing and implementing EBOs using employee share ownership plans and some indicators from examples in practice.

In discussion it was noted that:

• To succeed EBOs needed a source of equity funds for employees to buy the business up front when appropriate. A number of options were available and further sources needed to be considered.
• Members Equity makes available funds for private equity investments. Inclusion of the EBO model as a focus of such investment fund needs to be investigated.
• RABO Bank is interested in investing in co-operatives.
• Forresters ANA are specialists in ethical financing and already lend to social enterprises.
• Macquarie Bank has set up a unit to investigate supporting smaller business clients of the bank through the succession process.
• Bendigo Bank is entrepreneurial in outlook and backs new "community-based" ventures.

The workshop also considered the role "community buyouts" can play in the business succession process. Many small enterprises in rural and regional Australia are considered "vital assets" to those communities and are being "bought out" by communities particularly in Victoria (the petrol station in the township of Kaniva being the most recent example). The UK Group has also supported a number of initiatives involving "community buyouts" in rural towns.