{"id":3558,"date":"2024-11-01T13:27:58","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T17:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stevenslee.com\/sesesop\/?post_type=transaction&p=3558"},"modified":"2026-07-21T16:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:35:07","slug":"next-evolution","status":"publish","type":"transaction","link":"https:\/\/www.stevenslee.com\/sesesop\/outcome\/next-evolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Next Evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\r\n

Next Evolution<\/h1>\r\n
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Fire Suppression Company and Hazardous Chemical Recycler Recognize Employee Value, Becomes 100% ESOP Owned<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n<\/header>\r\n

Overview<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n
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Next Evolution Group (Next Evolution) and its operating entities,\u00a0Comprehensive Fire Technologies, Inc.<\/a>\u00a0(ComTec) and\u00a0Wesco HMB, Inc.<\/a>\u00a0(Wesco), are a specialty fire suppression system integrator and Halon recycler. ComTec was founded in 2003 as a full-service, highly specialized fire protection company based in Southeastern Pennsylvania. With a team of service and installation experts, ComTec offers a holistic suite of non-water-based fire suppression system design, installation, maintenance and repair to meet every client\u2019s unique fire protection needs. Wesco is one of the country\u2019s premier recyclers and suppliers of specialty hazard fire-suppression chemicals. Wesco, headquartered in the Central New Jersey market, recycles Halon and Halon alternatives to the highest standard of quality and supplies fire suppression gases around the world.<\/p>\r\n

Situation<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Next Evolution\u2019s owners sought an exit plan that would give back to the employees who helped build the Company\u2019s success, attract and retain employees in a competitive labor market and maintain the Company\u2019s core values. After seeing several of their competitors selling out to private equity-led industry consolidators and the impact the sale of the business had on the company and employees, the owners sought another alternative for exiting their ownership of the Company. A holistic evaluation of different business transition strategies led the owners to determine that a 100% employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) would achieve their goals and objectives.<\/p>\r\n

Solution<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

ComTec and Wesco engaged SES ESOP Strategies (SES) and its affiliated law firm,\u00a0Stevens & Lee<\/a>, to perform a transaction analysis to help the shareholders in deciding the best path forward to achieve their ESOP goals. During the transaction analysis, SES devised a corporate restructuring plan to tax efficiently combine the entities, determined a range of values for the transaction and suggested various financing scenarios and ESOP structures.<\/p>\r\n

SES led a transaction process with the ESOP trustee during which SES conducted financial due diligence, modeled the proposed ESOP plan and executed a capital raise process to assist with financing. Attorneys from Stevens & Lee helped implement the restructuring, prepare the ESOP and the related transaction documents and design and implement a management incentive plan to attract, motivate and retain key employees. Next Evolution Group became a 100% ESOP-owned S Corporation, effectively exempt from corporate federal and state income taxes.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cOur employees are the driving force of our success and future growth. The ESOP allows us to reward the team for their critical contributions to our success by providing company ownership to retain and attract the best industry talent,\u201d said Steve Foulk, President of ComTec. \u201cThe SES and Stevens & Lee team helped us navigate through this journey with best-in class service and expertise to help us achieve our goals and objectives.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

For more information on this transaction, please contact\u00a0Steve Greenapple<\/a>\u00a0at 215.508.5634,\u00a0Mark Russell<\/a>, Head of Finance, at 817.566.1013, or\u00a0Vince Capone<\/a>, Vice President, at 215.508.7716.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3558","transaction","type-transaction","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNext Evolution - SES ESOP Strategies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Waldron engaged SES ESOP Strategies, along with its affiliated law firm,\u00a0Stevens & Lee, to structure the new ESOP plan and guide the Company through the transaction process.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stevenslee.com\/sesesop\/transaction\/next-evolution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Next Evolution - SES ESOP Strategies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Waldron engaged SES ESOP Strategies, along with its affiliated law firm,\u00a0Stevens & Lee, to structure the new ESOP plan and guide the Company through the transaction process.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stevenslee.com\/sesesop\/transaction\/next-evolution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SES ESOP Strategies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T20:35:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stevenslee.com\\\/sesesop\\\/transaction\\\/next-evolution\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stevenslee.com\\\/sesesop\\\/transaction\\\/next-evolution\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next Evolution - SES ESOP Strategies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stevenslee.com\\\/sesesop\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-01T17:27:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-21T20:35:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"Waldron engaged SES ESOP Strategies, along with its affiliated law firm,\u00a0Stevens & Lee, to structure the new ESOP plan and guide the Company through the transaction process.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stevenslee.com\\\/sesesop\\\/transaction\\\/next-evolution\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stevenslee.com\\\/sesesop\\\/transaction\\\/next-evolution\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stevenslee.com\\\/sesesop\\\/transaction\\\/next-evolution\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stevenslee.com\\\/sesesop\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Transactions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stevenslee.com\\\/sesesop\\\/transaction\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Next Evolution\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stevenslee.com\\\/sesesop\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stevenslee.com\\\/sesesop\\\/\",\"name\":\"Griffin Financial Group\",\"description\":\"TAILORED ESOP SOLUTIONS. 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