ButcherJoseph Advised Destinations by Design on Sale to Employees

November 2018


View Press release
Press release
Q&A with DBD

“We are confident that the implementation of the ESOP with 100% employee ownership is not only the perfect way to reward our employees for their contributions, but also ensures continuity in our quality of service.”

Joyce Sherman Nelson

Co-Founder & Board Member, Destinations by Design

Who is our client?

  • Destinations by Design (DBD) designs and implements events, activities, tours, transportation, and program logistics for the incentive and corporate markets, including a large number of Fortune 500 companies.
  • DBD maintains a leading market position in Las Vegas and has grown to more than 100 full-time employees.
  • In operation since 1990, DBD’s original founders were a husband-and-wife team who gradually transitioned out of daily operations over the past five years. As part of their exit strategy, they wanted to reward their employees who helped them build the company.

Why did Destinations by Design hire ButcherJoseph?

  • DBD’s founders were interested in pursuing an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) as a means of transitioning ownership to DBD’s employees and the management team.
  • As the founders had transferred most of their responsibilities to the five members of the management team, they recognized that they needed a way to incentivize management and the wider employee base to ensure a smooth succession.

What did ButcherJoseph deliver?

  • ButcherJoseph structured and negotiated a 100% ESOP buyout that provided meaningful equity exposure to key members of management and created liquidity for the selling shareholders through outside senior and mezzanine capital sources.
  • Today, the company’s founders have fully transitioned their responsibilities to the management team, and the ESOP provides an incentive for all employees to support DBD’s long-term growth strategy.
  • Within its first year as an ESOP, DBD has seen a marked increase in employee productivity and retention. Management views the ESOP as a distinct recruiting advantage in a region that doesn’t include many employee-owned companies.