OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL – October 31, 2023 – Prairie Capital Advisors, Inc. (“Prairie”), a leading middle-market investment bank, acted as financial advisor to The Ōnin Group (“Ōnin” or “Company”) in the transition of the company into an employee stock ownership plan. Prairie acted as exclusive financial advisor in this transaction to Ōnin and its shareholders and was led by Rocky Fiore, Michael McGinley and Harsh Patel of Prairie. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Ōnin is one of the largest and fastest growing privately held staffing companies in the U.S. Headquartered in Birmingham, AL, Ōnin has brick and mortar branches in over 26 states and their “Teammates” working in all 50. Committed to living out their company purpose of creating opportunities and empowering people, the company cultivates a strong sense of teamwork, purpose-driven work and believes in investing in their people. Ōnin has been awarded several “Best Place to Work” in recent years by both the Birmingham and Nashville Business Journal as well as Staffing Industry Analysts (“SIA”).
Prairie worked closely with the leadership team and sellers, providing ESOP advisory expertise, and managing the preparatory, due diligence and negotiation phases of the ESOP transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“The Ōnin culture is built around two fundamental truths that come down from the very top of our organization: first, we want to create opportunity and empower people and second, we lead by serving others. The ESOP is the culmination of the intersection of these two truths,” says Mason Phillips, Director of Finance at Ōnin.
“Ōnin continues to show its dedication to servant-leadership of its people through this transaction, which should be a great benefit for its participants at an already well-respected company. It was an honor to get to work with the ownership and leadership teams at Ōnin,” commented Michael McGinley, Managing Director at Prairie. “It was a pleasure working with the Ōnin team. The implementation of the ESOP further enhances the company’s collaborative culture, and it will provide a meaningful benefit to its participants. The ESOP gives an opportunity to share in the growth of the business in future,” added Harsh Patel, Vice President.
About Prairie Capital Advisors
Prairie is a leading financial advisory firm specializing in creating and executing ownership transition strategies for middle-market companies nationwide. In 2022, Prairie was named ESOP Investment Bank of the Year by M&A Atlas. For more information, visit www.prairiecap.com.
