Avantages
There was much employee involvement and engagement. Company was 2/3rds owned by employees in an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). An offer to purchase the company by Sealed Air came in, it would DOUBLE the value of the ESOP. When the board submitted the offer to employees to vote on, it was overwhelmingly approved. Almost 10% of the shop floor employees became millionaires, and all employees with over 7 years employment received huge increases in their ESOP valuation.
Inconvénients
Sale of company destroyed strong company culture. It was expected (and happened) that many employees in corporate departments like HR, IT, and accounting would lose their jobs (but still get good increase in their ESOP value). It looks like 6 years later, one of the companies 7 US factories will close, but there has been considerable job growth at the other 6 locations.