Founded in 1978, Executive Sounding Board Associates (ESBA) helped over a thousand companies find their path to success through innovative solutions and insightful advice. ESBA was doing turnaround work before the turnaround industry existed. As one of the oldest firms of its kind, it offered the stability and expertise that distressed and underperforming companies required to help them succeed.

Well-known in the banking industry, businessman Marty Katz was asked to help advise a bank’s loan client who was in distress. Relying on decades of business acumen, Marty created a plan to help them improve profitability, and thus, an idea for a new business was conceived. He knew that other family-owned companies could also benefit from the same practical outsider’s perspective, and so he launched a company to serve as a sounding board for businesses undergoing transition. Executive Sounding Board Associates was born.

From its roots as a turnaround firm, ESBA grew into a multidisciplinary financial advisory and consulting firm. Over the years, the firm has worked with companies and non-profit organizations of all sizes, including middle-market and large-cap businesses, as well as publicly traded, sponsor-backed, and privately owned entities, helping them reestablish value and profitability. The firm worked with companies in distress, as well as those seeking to improve their operational or financial performance.

 
ESBA grew by adding practice areas and expanding into a broad array of markets and different industries to offer:

• Turnaround, Crisis and Interim Management
• Operational Assessments and Financial Forecasting
• Bankruptcy Advisory Debtor and Creditor
• Liquidation and Business Wind Downs
• M&A Advisory and Business Refinancing
• Litigation Support and Forensic Accounting

ESBA was named one of the top turnaround firms in the United States. It has also been recognized by the Turnaround Management Association Global, The Beard Group (publisher of Turnarounds and Workouts), The M&A Advisor Organization, the Global M&A Network, and The Deal in their quarterly bankruptcy league tables.

In 2013, Robert Katz, President, and Michael DuFrayne, CEO, of ESBA purchased the firm and merged it into EisnerAmper to broaden the company’s platform.