The One-Stop ESOP Blog

The ESOP repurchase obligation is the company’s obligation, as created by the ESOP put option, to buy back shares from ESOP participants according to the company’s ESOP document and ESOP Distribution Policy. 

If company stock is not publicly traded a participant must be given a put option.  A put option gives the participant a right, but not the obligation, to require the company to repurchase the stock under a fair valuation formula as determined by an independent ESOP appraiser.

The December 1, 2011 Employee Ownership Update is online and discusses the following:  

As we continue our discussion about the Interrelationship Between Stock Valuation and the Repurchase Obligation, let's start by talking about Garbage_In,_Garbage_Out or GIGO. The concept of GIGO certainly applies to preparing a repurchase obligation study. If you don't use accurate assumptions in your forecast, then you won't have an accurate repurchase obligation forecast. While I would initially say that any first attempt at preparing assumptions for a study is better than not making an attempt at all, it is essential to continuously revisit the assumptions to ensure that they are accurate. You will also find a lot of overlap between your repurchase obligation assumptions and the information involved in the financial planning process. Some companies incorporate the repurchase obligation forecasting process into their strategic planning.