Cowen Partners Quoted in Mergermarket on Private Equity Investment in ESOPs
Cowen Partners Executive Search President Shawn Cole was quoted in Mergermarket’s coverage of the growing trend of private equity firms investing in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs).
In the article “Private equity finds stability in employee-owned firms,” Mergermarket explored why PE sponsors are increasingly drawn to ESOP-owned companies, citing reliable cash flow, workforce stability, and favorable tax economics as key drivers.
Shawn provided perspective on what makes these investments attractive: “In an ideal scenario, you have a motivated seller and an invested workforce, creating a true win-win.”
The article highlighted several notable transactions, including Morgan Stanley Capital Partners’ majority acquisition of Olsson, an employee-owned engineering firm, and Warburg Pincus’s $1 billion acquisition of Vermont Information Processing, demonstrating that ESOP investments are moving from niche strategy to repeatable play across the middle market.
About Mergermarket
Mergermarket is a leading ION Analytics service providing proprietary M&A intelligence, forward-looking analysis, and data, designed for investment banks, PE firms, and advisors to identify new opportunities. It uses a global network of specialized journalists to uncover unannounced deals, corporate strategies, and sector trends.
About Cowen Partners Executive Search
Cowen Partners Executive Search is a leading national executive search firm, known for placing world-class C-suite leaders, board members, and senior executives across industries.
Specializing in finding and recruiting top talent, we provide clients with comprehensive access to the executive marketplace, ensuring that each search is tailored to the unique needs of the organization. Our clients benefit from a proven track record of delivering high-impact leaders who drive growth, innovation, and performance.
At Cowen Partners Executive Search, we go beyond traditional executive search by offering strategic insights and expertise that help companies build high-performing teams and navigate complex market challenges.
Whether it’s sourcing transformative CEOs, CFOs, or board directors, we are committed to excellence, transparency, and results-driven solutions, making us the trusted partner for businesses looking to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.
About Shawn Cole, President & Cofounder
Shawn Cole is a serial entrepreneur and executive leader with over 15 years’ experience founding and running successful companies. Shawn’s business career has been centered on value creation for both turnarounds and startups.
Shawn is President and Co-Founder of Cowen Partners Executive Search, a national CFO executive search firm focused on the key elements of a successful business: sales, marketing, and finance. Business clients across the country trust Cowen Partners Executive Search to take their companies to the next level by finding them executive talent, such as a CEO, CFO, COO, Chief Revenue Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer. Clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations.
An active participant in the business community and startup space, Shawn Co-Chairs The Cowen Partners Venture Fund, which provides seed funding and early-stage investments, focusing on market disruptors in niche markets, community businesses, and minority entrepreneurs.
Shawn attended Oregon State University’s College of Business Austin Entrepreneurship Program and participated in a first-of-its-kind experiential entrepreneurship experiment at Weatherford Hall. He was also a Founding Member and President of Oregon State University’s Students in Free Enterprise, an international non-profit organization working with university students who want to positively change their communities and learn practical knowledge to become socially responsible business leaders.
At the age of 16, Shawn became a volunteer firefighter and EMT, eventually founding and managing a half-marathon to raise funds for the community. To date, he has raised over one million dollars benefiting the community.
As trailblazing leaders in executive search, Cowen Partners Executive Search is also an innovator that routinely develops groundbreaking resources to empower better insights, decisions, and understandings of what it takes to recruit and retain top talent in today’s C-suites.
Explore some of our elite resources below to see why Cowen Partners Executive Search continues to be a top executive search firm nationwide.
Schedule a Call.
Fill out the email request form to learn more about our approach.