Employee Equity Incentives Structuring

Why choose our Employee Equity Incentives lawyers?

We advise on the design, implementation, maintenance, and winding-up of equity-based incentive plans, offering highly focused and commercial advice based on our clients' needs.

Our expertise includes:

• Transactions – and the most effective and tax-efficient ways to deal with existing share based awards on M&A transactions, IPOs and management and all employee buyouts.
• New share plans - including the full range of approved plans in the UK, as well as more bespoke arrangements such as long term incentive plans and performance share plans, deferred bonus and matching share plans, joint share ownership or "split interest" plans, awards of restricted stock units and stock appreciation rights, together with hurdle share plans for venture capital or private equity backed private companies.
• Employee benefit trusts – and their establishment either onshore or offshore (where we liaise with local advisers) as appropriate, and acting for trustees on their trustee obligations in relation to takeovers, the winding up of trusts, and the distribution of residuary assets to beneficiaries.
• International share plans – and the roll-out of share plans globally using lawyers in our European offices and across our network of established contacts worldwide. We have particular expertise establishing UK sub-plans for US emerging growth corporations, and cover plan design, regulatory and securities issues, tax, corporate governance compliance, employment and data protection.
• Share valuations – negotiating and agreeing valuations with HMRC's valuation team as part of the process of implementing tax efficient share plans such as EMI and CSOP.
• Advice to individuals – working closely with our employment team advising senior executives and other key employees on entry and exit situations, ensuring equity awards are structured in the most tax efficient manner given the local jurisdiction.

Looking for advice that's effective and tax-efficient? Our highly skilled experts are here to help.