InsideArbitrage Potential Deal Alert: Bryant Riley Offers to Buy the Rest of B. Riley Financial (RILY) for $7 Per Share

POTENTIAL DEAL DETAILS

Bryant Riley, the co-founder and largest shareholder of B. Riley Financial Inc. (RILY), has proposed to buy the remaining shares of the company that he does not already own at $7 per share.

“I want to make it clear that I plan on continuing to report financials to the SEC and our bonds and preferreds will continue to be publicly traded,” Riley said in a letter to the company’s board. “It is possible that I will continue to list on a secondary exchange if there are shareholders that would like to participate in this transaction.”

B. Riley Financial Inc. Investor Relations

Update(s):

August 21, 2024: Bloomberg reported that Oaktree Capital is in exclusive talks to acquire a majority stake in two businesses owned by B. Riley Financial (RILY). Oaktree is discussing buying a stake of 51% to 55% in B. Riley’s appraisal and valuation services arm and its retail, wholesale, and industrial solutions unit, entities formerly known as Great American Group. A deal values the units at around $380 million.

August 23, 2024: B. Riley Financial (RILY) announced that on August 21, it received a delinquency notice from Nasdaq for not filing its Quarterly Report for the period ending June 30, 2024, on time.

August 28, 2024: Bloomberg reported that B. Riley Financial’s (RILY) lenders have granted the firm more time to produce an overdue financial report as it looks for ways to ease its debt load of more than $2 billion. Bankers put aside requirements for B. Riley to provide financial statements within 45 days after the recent quarter ended, heading off what could have been deemed a default. The extra time is being used to discuss amendments to B. Riley’s loan agreements that would give the brokerage and investment firm more flexibility.

September 9, 2024: B. Riley Financial (RILY) announced strategic and financing initiatives to enhance shareholder value by accelerating debt repayment. The company has secured a non-binding commitment for debt financing of its B. Riley and bebe brands businesses through a special purpose vehicle, expected to generate $236 million in proceeds to pay down senior secured debt. Additionally, B. Riley is in exclusive negotiations to sell a 53% stake in its Great American Group businesses, valued at approximately $380 million. The company plans to use these funds, along with cash on hand, to reduce its outstanding debt under the Nomura Senior Secured Credit Agreement to $125 million by year-end 2024 and repay its February 2025 Senior Notes, leaving its next debt maturity in 2026.

On August 15, Mr. Riley submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of B. Riley Financial for $7.00 per share, with the Board forming a Special Committee to evaluate the offer, though there is no assurance a transaction will occur.

September 20, 2024: Reuters reported that B. Riley Financial (RILY) is in talks to sell its wealth management business to Stifel Financial (SF) for more than $100 million.

November 1, 2024: B. Riley Financial (RILY) announced that it is selling a portion of its traditional (W-2) Wealth Management business to Stifel Financial (SF) for an estimated net consideration of $27M to $35M in cash.

Disclaimer: Our intent with this section of the website is to present potential deals that appear to be in the pipeline. These potential deals are ones where i) the company has indicated that it is "seeking strategic alternatives", ii) there has been an unsolicited bid for a company as mentioned in a press release by the company or iii) news about the deal has been published by a leading news organization like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Washington Post, Reuters and The Associated Press. As best as possible we will try to avoid baseless rumors. There is a high probability that many of these potential deals may not materialize and if they do, the terms of the deal may be different from what was initially reported. Please do your own due diligence before buying or selling any securities mentioned on this website. We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the content or data provided.