The American Society of Appraisers hosted the inaugural ESOP Virtual Conference on June 21, and here are some notable bits of information we learned:

• There is proposed legislation designed (among other things) to hold the DOL “to the fire” and finalize proposed regulations the valuation community has been waiting for—since 1988(!);
• The landmark Bowers case could represent a turning point for ESOP valuations (see the last issue for more details);
• While DOL litigation may have leveled off (although some do not have that perception), class action litigation by private plaintiffs has increased;
• The No. 1 issue raised in ESOP litigation is the concern over projections;
• Many ESOP transaction trustees now avoid valuations with control premium adjustments, but they also want to see some representative discount/haircut in the valuation to recognize the lack of full and unfettered control; and
• An ESOP stock purchase transaction typically requires five to six months to execute (less time if third-party debt is not needed).

A full recap with more details is in the August issue of Business Valuation Update.