Management Buyout (MBO)

A management buyout (MBO) is a transaction in which a company’s existing management team purchases the company’s assets and operations, often with the help of external financing. MBOs are common in situations where the management team believes it can run the business more effectively as owners. They can also occur when a parent company decides to sell a subsidiary or when a public company is taken private by its management team.

Example

The management team of a division within a large corporation raises funds to buy the division from the parent company, turning it into an independent, privately held business.