Business restructuring and succession planning at Wise Farm Equipment

Wise Farm Equipment is a leading provider of machinery and motor vehicle sales and servicing in the Upper South East of SA. Grant and Nicole Wise recently decided that he would like to restructure his second-generation family business to allow loyal and high performing employees to become shareholders of the business.

Grant recognised the need to invite new shareholders to share the management workload and reward loyal employees.However, bringing in external shareholders and meeting capital gains tax requirements presented challenges. Ryan Cameron, Director at Murray Nankivell, helped create a tailored entity structure that suited the company's current needs and set them up for future growth. This involved moving the business premises into a property trust and structuring shares in a way that allowed employees flexibility in which part of the business they chose to investment in.