HOOPP and Social Capital Partners Lead Taylor Guitars on Employee Ownership
Posted on 03/17/2021
Taylor Guitars was founded in 1974 by Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug and has grown into the leading global builder of premium acoustic guitars. Taylor now employs over 1,200 people and currently produces hundreds of guitars per day in its state-of-the-art factory complexes in both United States (El Cajon, California) and in Mexico (Tecate).
Taylor Guitars has transitioned to 100% employee ownership. Backed by a Canadian pension fund, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) via HOOPP Capital Partners, and Canadian non-profit Social Capital Partners (SCP), this is a landmark transaction where a pension fund has directly financed an employee ownership conversion with a flexible, long-term debt facility.
Taylor Guitars employees, now owners, at the El Cajon factory prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Taylor Guitars transfers ownership to employees El Cajon-base
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Taylor Guitars, the El Cajon company whose high-end instruments are played by such stars as Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band and Jason Mraz, is making headlines, but not with a new instrument.
On Monday, Taylor co-founders Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug announced they have transferred complete ownership of the company to its nearly 1,200 employees. The Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP, marks an unprecedented new chapter for the 47-year-old company, which in 2019 manufactured 170,000 guitars and had worldwide revenues of $122.4 million.
In April 2020, Taylor was ranked as North America’s 15th largest supplier of instruments in an annual industry study by Music Trades. Taylor’s workforce is spread out across factories in El Cajon and Tecate, at its European distribution center in The Netherlands and at its African ebony farm center in Cameroon, although laws in Cameroon will prevent those employees from participating in the ESOP.