Warren Cornil and Bill Rowan have formed SBNA Holdings Inc for ownership of operating entities Sunbelt Industrial Trucks and Narrow Aisle Inc and, simultaneously, established an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

The industry veterans, each 62, intend to remain fully engaged in the businesses, but view establishment of the holding company and the leveraged ESOP as part of a succession strategy for the businesses. SBNA is an acronym for Sunbelt and Narrow Aisle.

The owners sold 33.3% of SBNA shares to the ESOP for the 87 employees of both companies and 3% of the shares to members of a management team. Cornil and Rowan, as the original founders, retained the remaining shares -31.85% each. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal was concluded on 27 August, backdated to 1 April 2012.

"It's a trite expression, but the ESOP is a win for all parties concerned," Rowan says. "Our co-workers, who helped us reach this milestone, will ultimately own the majority shares of the company."

Cornil notes, "During our research into ESOPs, we learned that employee-owned companies typically outperform their peers by 30%, regardless of the industry involved because each person has a personal stake in the business."

Rowan and Cornil remain under employment contracts and expect to be actively involved in the businesses over eight years as they transition to the new management team and sell the remainder of their shares in two more stages.

Each of three managerial employees acquired 1% of the SBNA shares. Matt Maddock, SBNA vice president in charge of retail sales, has spent his entire 17-year career at Sunbelt. George Munford, SBNA operations manager, joined the business five years ago and has 23 years' experience in forklift dealership operations and service management. Joe Nolan, SBNA controller, was controller for Sunbelt and Narrow Aisle for about a year and, in public accounting roles, has known the founders for more than three decades.

Rowan and Cornil own SBNA's Texas properties -3.5 acres with a 60,000 sqft. (5,574 sqm) facility in Dallas and 2.5 acres with a 30,000 sqft. (2,787 sqm) building in Houston - and lease them back to the business.

Cornil and Rowan jointly founded Sunbelt, legally Rowan-Cornil Inc, in Dallas on 1 September 1987 and recently celebrated the company's 25th anniversary.

Sunbelt sells new and used forklifts in local, national and international markets and has been recognised as the largest Komatsu forklift dealer in the US. Sunbelt opened a Houston branch in 2004 and began representing Nissan forklifts in north and central Texas in late 2011. Sunbelt also represents the Flexi, TCM and Big Joe lines. Sunbelt is one of 22 dealers in the US - and the only one in Texas - to be recognised as an MVP by the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association.

Cornil, Rowan and two associates formed Narrow Aisle in 2000. Cornil and Rowan acquired full ownership in 2004. Narrow Aisle purchased the exclusive Flexi manufacturing and marketing rights for North, Central and South America from product creator Narrow Aisle Ltd of Great Bridge, England. Narrow Aisle markets the articulating very-narrow-aisle forklift through a dealer network in the Americas. Contract manufacturing occurs in Taichung, Taiwan.

Regarding sales, Cornil reports, "2011 was our best combined year, and, for 2012, we expect to be about 50% better on the bottom line. We are enjoying an extremely good run".