Midwest Equipment Company is now employee owned!
We’ve spent the year celebrating our 25 years in business, and recently, the employees of Midwest Equipment Company received some wonderful news! The founder of Midwest Equipment Company, James Sramek, announced in an all-employee meeting that the company is now a 100% employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Trust.
This is an exciting time for Midwest Equipment Company – a milestone that ensures our unmatched culture and business model will be upheld by the next generation. For our valued customers, it means we will continue our commitment to providing the highest level of service quality products and superior service, today, tomorrow and into the future.
Read below for the press release that went out on Friday, November 2.
Midwest Equipment Company Becomes Employee Owned
ST. LOUIS – November 2, 2018
After 25 years of ownership under its Founder Jim Sramek, Midwest Equipment Company (“Midwest” or the “Company”) is proud to announce that it is now employee owned following its sale to The Midwest Equipment Employee Stock Ownership Plan Trust (“ESOP” or “ESOP Trust”). Founded in 1993 and headquartered in St. Louis, Midwest is a leading commercial foodservice equipment distributor in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Arkansas. ButcherJoseph & Co. served as the Company’s exclusive financial advisor in the transaction that officially closed early October 2018.
Founder and CEO Jim Sramek remarked, “When I first started thinking about my succession plan, I knew that I didn’t want to sell to anyone outside the Company. I spent the better part of this past year working very closely with the ButcherJoseph team in St. Louis to create a trust that would purchase my equity in Midwest Equipment Company. The ESOP Trust allows me to transfer ownership of the Company to our eligible employees at no cost to them, and functions as an additional qualified retirement benefit.
Our people are the heart of everything we do at Midwest Equipment Company. Our employees have worked day in and day out over the past 25 years to build our business and to set the standard for quality, equipment, service and customer relationships in the foodservice industry.
I am so proud to announce that Midwest Equipment Company is now employee owned. With the ESOP in place, all of us at Midwest have an even greater incentive to continue our mission predicated on superior service and exceeding our customers’ expectations.”
Sramek will remain with the Company, as will current President Ann Bueler and the existing Midwest leadership team.
About Midwest Equipment Company
Midwest Equipment Company (“Midwest” or the “Company”) is a leading commercial foodservice equipment distributor in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Arkansas. The Company, founded in 1993 and headquartered in St. Louis, operates along four primary lines of business: national equipment sales and leasing, regional equipment sales and leasing, service, and parts. Midwest is dedicated to providing its customers superior service and an excellent range of New and Certified Pre-owned Gold Standard commercial kitchen foodservice equipment and supplies.
About ButcherJoseph & Co.
ButcherJoseph & Co. (“ButcherJoseph”) is an investment bank headquartered in St. Louis with a presence in Chicago, Washington, DC, and Charlotte, NC. ButcherJoseph provides investment banking advisory services to middle market companies. With more than $7 billion in successfully completed Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”) transactions, ButcherJoseph & Co. is known as a leader in the ESOP field.
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Contact for Midwest Equipment Company:
Ann Bueler
President
Midwest Equipment Company
2511 Cassens Drive
Fenton, MO 63026
PH: 636-343-0664
https://www.taylormidwest.com
Contact for ButcherJoseph & Co.:
Rose Newport
Director of Business Development
ButcherJoseph & Co.
101 S. Hanley Rd., Suite 1450
St. Louis, MO 63105
PH: 314-549-4045
Email: rose.newport@butcherjoseph.com
https://www.butcherjoseph.com/
