B. Riley Financial Secures $236 Million in Cash Proceeds from Brands Assets

Los Angeles-based B. Riley Financial, Inc., a diversified financial services company, announced via press release that it and its subsidiary bebe stores, inc. have completed a transaction for their brand assets yielding approximately $236 million in cash proceeds to B. Riley.

At the closing of the transaction, B. Riley transferred and contributed its interests in the assets and intellectual property related to the licenses of several brands, including Hurley, Justice, Scotch & Soda, Catherine Malandrino, English Laundry, Joan Vass, Kensie, Limited Too and Nanette Lepore to a securitization vehicle, receiving approximately $189 million in net proceeds in connection with the financing transaction. bebe sold its interests in the assets and intellectual property related to the licenses of the bebe and Brookstone brands for approximately $47 million in net cash proceeds also at the closing.

B. Riley acquired the portfolio of brands (excluding bebe and Brookstone) for approximately $222 million and received $179 million in distributions during its ownership. The company plans on utilizing the proceeds from this transaction to pay down outstanding senior secured debt and deleverage its balance sheet.

Bryant Riley, chairman and co-chief executive officer of B. Riley Financial said, “We appreciate the partnership we have had with the Bluestar Alliance team over the past several years. Joseph Gabbay and Ralph Gindi are incredible operators and have done a tremendous job re-positioning these brands.”

Riley continued, “With the completion of this transaction and the expected sale of a majority stake in Great American Group in late November, we are moving from a period of asset monetization to a renewed focus on growth in our core financial services operating businesses. There remains a huge opportunity in the small- and mid-cap markets, and we believe B. Riley is uniquely positioned to meet this demand. We look forward to providing investors with an update on our plans on our next quarterly earnings call.”

Information for this story was sourced from BusinessWire: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/b-riley-financial-secures-236-million-in-cash-proceeds-from-brands-assets-302289937.html