Has anyone here had experience operating, buying, or selling double-breasted operations?

September 19, 2025

by a searcher from Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management in Scottsdale, AZ, USA

For context, by “double-breasted” I mean when an owner operates both a union and a non-union company in parallel. I’d especially love to hear from those who have gone through a sale — what challenges came up, and were there any discounts involved? Would really appreciate connecting with anyone who’s been through this.

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Reply by a searcher
from Harvard University in New York, NY, USA

I would definitely consult a lawyer on this. I would imagine that one of the issue becomes if you own a union company and non-union company that can service the same customer / project and you "divert work" from the union company towards the non-union company. I imagine the recommendation would be to keep operations completely separate so that the union cannot claim the two entities are really one combined entity and should be subject to the same collective bargaining agreement. One thing you may want to consider is making the non-union company a union company where you define the rates and work rules, so you have a net equivalent cost structure but now both are union.

Reply by a searcher
from Northwestern University in Hamburg, Germany

I can only speak to the situation within the EU. While the current operator is able to run the business and the government appears to tolerate it for now, there is no assurance that this will remain the case under new ownership. As a precaution, I would strongly recommend including a liability clause in the contract, valid for a period of three to five years. This clause should ensure that the seller remains liable for any issues or claims arising prior to the change of ownership, should they come to light after the transaction.

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