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Employee Retention & Incentivisation

ESOPs and B-BBEE Ownership Structuring

We advise SMEs, entrepreneurs, founders and high-growth companies on the legal structuring of employee retention and ownership-based incentive schemes, including Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and B-BBEE ownership structures.

Our clients rely on us to design, develop and refine incentive and ownership arrangements that align commercial objectives, tax considerations, governance requirements and regulatory frameworks, while remaining practical and implementable.

We work closely with founders, boards, management teams and shareholders to ensure that incentive structures support long-term value creation, talent retention and strategic growth — without unintended legal or commercial consequences.

We advise throughout the full lifecycle of ESOP and B-BBEE structures, from initial structuring and stakeholder negotiations through to implementation and ongoing governance.

O’Reilly Law’s expertise include:

  • Structuring Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOPs) for startups, scale-ups and established businesses.
  • Advising on employee and management equity participation schemes.
  • B-BBEE ownership structuring, including employee and community ownership models.
  • ESOP and B-BBEE trust structures, governance frameworks and fiduciary considerations.
  • Drafting, reviewing and negotiating: ESOP rules and participation agreements, Trust deeds and ancillary trust documentation, Shareholder and subscription agreements, Share buy-back and equity issuance arrangements.
  • Integrating ESOPs and B-BBEE structures with: Funding rounds Private equity and venture capital transactions, Founder and management incentive arrangements.
  • Advising on legal, regulatory and structuring considerations in relation to: Dilution, Vesting and leaver provisions, Control and governance , Exit scenarios.
  • Advising on control, voting rights and economic interest in B-BBEE transactions.

If you are considering an ESOP or B-BBEE ownership structure, other employee ownership arrangement, or need to review or restructure an existing scheme, we would be pleased to assist.

 

Give us a call at 021 9488 273, request a Zoom chat or send us an email at info@oreillylaw.co.za, for more info.

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