Black Tomato Founders Sell 75% to Employee Ownership Trust, Retain Control
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The deal shows a luxury tour operator choosing an employee trust over private equity to maintain independence, offering an alternative exit path and potentially impacting future capital raising and expansion.
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- Skift FeedBlack Tomato Founders Sell 75% to Employee Ownership Trust, Retain Control
Luxury tour operator Black Tomato has transferred 75% of the business into a newly established Employee Ownership Trust, in a deal completed in early July and led by advisory firm Grant Thornton, which conducted an independent valuation (undisclosed). The three founders retain a 25% minority stake via a new B share class while preserving decision-making power, with existing management and the board staying in place under trustee oversight. Rather than selling to private equity, co-founder Tom Marchant framed the move as an "evolution, not an exit," designed to lock in independence, protect the company's culture, and offer employees future upside. The structure uses deferred consideration pa…