Irvine, CA, July 30, 2025 -- First National Capital Corporation (FNCC), a full-service commercial equipment and aviation finance provider, today announced the successful termination of its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) effective December 31, 2024, marking a significant milestone after nine prosperous years. During this period, share values for ESOP participants increased by an exceptional 585%.
As a result of the termination, 39 current employees and several past employees have received a total distribution of $30.7 million in early 2025. The ESOP trust will still retain over 20% of the remaining shares, with the original equity holders owning the other majority interest.
In addition to the initial payments of $30.7 million, the most recent valuation establishes the retained employee ESOP ownership at $36.65 million, for a total employee estimated value of $67.35 million.
Keith Duggan, CEO of First National Capital, stated, "The ESOP has proven to be exactly what I had hoped for our employees—a means to provide exceptional rewards to the dedicated team that has helped build First National Capital into a first-class organization. Faced with multiple options back in 2016, including selling to private equity, I made a conscious decision to create an equity structure that benefited both our employees and equity holders. Based on this outcome, the choice of an ESOP has clearly been the right one."
Duggan highlighted that at least 10 current employees became millionaires as a result of the initial payments, with another 26 current and former employees passing that milestone based upon the most recent estimated valuation.
Duggan added, "With the combined value of the initial payments, and the current valuation, we had ten employees exceed $2.0 million in total value, and another five exceeded $3.0 million. Given the tax deferred nature of these payments, this is truly a life-changing event for many of our employees."
Duggan continued, "I believe we are the only independent finance company that has ever created an ESOP structure, making this a unique and highly successful undertaking. I'm reasonably confident that none of our peers have established a compensation structure that created $67 million of additional employee wealth in a relatively short period of time. As we continue to grow, we hope our track record of success and shared success with our great team continues to attract top talent to the company."
"We look forward to a strong 2025 and beyond, as we all have a vested interest in FNCC's continued success," Duggan concluded.
About First National Capital
First National Capital Corporation provides competitive equipment financing for a wide range of industries, supporting businesses through customized financial solutions tailored to meet diverse credit and capital needs. With nearly $4.5B in capital deployed to companies across the U.S. and Canada, FNCC continues to lead in delivering innovative financing for equipment, projects, and aviation.
For more information, please visit www.firstncc.com.