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B. Riley Financial Launches Review of Strategic Alternatives for Appraisal and Retail, Wholesale & Industrial Solutions Businesses

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Company Believes Businesses Not Appropriately Valued by Market, Could Provide Greater Value to Potential Acquirer

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — B. Riley Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: RILY) (“B. Riley” or the “Company”) today announced that it has retained Moelis & Company LLC as an independent financial advisor to assist in its review of strategic alternatives for the Company’s Appraisal and Valuation Services, and Retail, Wholesale & Industrial Solutions businesses (collectively formerly known as “Great American Group”), which could include a potential sale or other transaction.

B. Riley acquired Great American Group (“Great American”) through a strategic combination in 2014. Since that time, B. Riley has substantially grown Great American’s appraisal and retail liquidation business, which together, generated approximately $153 million in revenue(1) and approximately $35 million in operating income(2) for fiscal year 2023, a year over year increase of 35% and 69%, respectively. This business is currently carried on the Company’s balance sheet at a book value of approximately $35 million.

Bryant Riley, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of B. Riley Financial, commented: “Great American is a tremendous business with a strong management team that has successfully executed on a number of organic growth initiatives over the last 10 years. Our appraisal unit has delivered strong and steady recurring EBITDA year after year, and we believe this business is poised for meaningful growth. Strategic and financial buyers are looking to acquire specialized financial services that deliver robust free cash flow at attractive margins. As we’ve stated since the beginning, we use our balance sheet to acquire quality businesses that we can build over the long term. This is one example of many such businesses where significantly increased valuation is not reflected on our balance sheet, and we have the ability to unlock this value when it best serves our shareholders.”

Proceeds from a potential transaction, if one were to be consummated, may be used in a variety of ways including de-levering B. Riley Financial’s balance sheet, repurchasing shares and bonds in the open market, and investing in the platform and in particular, B. Riley Securities, the cornerstone of the Company’s diversified platform.

Michael Marchlik, Co-Chief Executive Officer of B. Riley Advisory Services, and Scott Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer of B. Riley Retail, Wholesale & Industrial Solutions, added, “Since joining Great American Group in the late 1990s and becoming part of B. Riley in 2014, we have built an industry-leading set of offerings across asset appraisal, valuation, and disposition services. We’re incredibly proud of the work we do on behalf of our clients and we believe there’s no firm today that offers the combination of experience and expertise that we do. Our business has the ability to expand into several new verticals and will continue to be a proprietary sourcing mechanism for high quality lending and investment opportunities. We remain committed to delivering for our clients and continuing to provide the high quality service they have come to expect from us.”

B. Riley has not set a deadline or definitive timetable for the completion of the strategic alternatives review process, and there can be no assurance that this process will result in any particular outcome. The Company does not intend to comment further regarding the review until it determines disclosure is necessary or advisable.

About B. Riley Financial
B. Riley Financial is a diversified financial services platform that delivers tailored solutions to meet the strategic, operational, and capital needs of its clients and partners. B. Riley leverages cross-platform expertise to provide clients with full service, collaborative solutions at every stage of the business life cycle. Through its affiliated subsidiaries, B. Riley provides end-to-end financial services across investment banking, institutional brokerage, private wealth and investment management, financial consulting, corporate restructuring, operations management, risk and compliance, due diligence, forensic accounting, litigation support, appraisal and valuation, auction, and liquidation services. B. Riley opportunistically invests to benefit its shareholders, and certain affiliates originate and underwrite senior secured loans for asset-rich companies. B. Riley refers to B. Riley Financial, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries or affiliates. For more information, please visit www.brileyfin.com.

Footnotes
(1) The $153 million of revenue for the Great American businesses in FY 2023 includes $103 million attributable to the Retail segment and $50 million attributable to Appraisal business within the total $133 million of Financial Consulting segment revenue. These financial results are preliminary and unaudited, subject to completion of the ongoing audit of the Company’s annual financial statements.
(2) The $35 million of operating income for the Great American businesses in FY 2023 includes $21 million attributable to the Retail segment and $14 million attributable to Appraisal business within the total $30 million of Financial Consulting segment income. These financial results are preliminary and unaudited, subject to completion of the ongoing audit of the Company’s annual financial statements.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this press release that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, our business, operating results, financial condition, and stock price could be materially negatively affected. You should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are based on the information currently available to us and speak only as of today’s date. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding a transaction related to the Company’s Appraisal and Valuation Services, and Retail, Wholesale & Industrial Solutions businesses, and potential use of proceeds. Factors that could cause such actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the risks described from time to time in B. Riley Financial, Inc.’s periodic filings with the SEC, including, without limitation, the risks described in B. Riley Financial, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2023; June 30, 2023, and September 30, 2023 under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” (as applicable). Additional information will be set forth in B. Riley Financial, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. These factors should be considered carefully, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. All information is current as of today’s date, and B. Riley Financial undertakes no duty to update this information.

Contacts

Investors

Media

Mike Frank                         

Jo Anne McCusker

ir@brileyfin.com

jmccusker@brileyfin.com

(212) 409-2424 

(646) 885-5425

 

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SOURCE B. Riley Financial

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Flō Networks Announces Intention to Launch Public Tender Offers to Acquire Up to 100% of Controladora Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V. and Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V.

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MEXICO CITY and EL PASO, Texas, Sept. 1, 2026 /CNW/ — Transtelco Holding, Inc. (doing business as Flō Networks, or “Flō”), a U.S.-based, independent digital infrastructure provider operating its own fiber-optic network across Mexico, the Southwestern United States and Latin America, today announced its intention to launch concurrent public tender offers (ofertas públicas de adquisición, or the “Offers”) to acquire up to 100% of the outstanding shares of Controladora Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V. (“Controladora Axtel”) and up to 100% of the outstanding CPOs of Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V. (“Axtel,” and together with Controladora Axtel, the “Axtel Companies”).

Flō has received preliminary approval from the Boards of Directors of both Axtel Companies to continue the process

Flō has received preliminary approval from the Boards of Directors of both Axtel Companies to continue the process toward launching the Offers, and is working to obtain the required regulatory approvals.

The commencement of the Offers remains subject to authorization by the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores, clearance by the Comisión Nacional Antimonopolio, the receipt of any other required regulatory approvals, and the satisfaction of the applicable contractual and corporate conditions. Subject to the satisfaction of these requirements, Flō is prepared to move promptly toward commencement of the Offers. The terms and conditions of the Offers, including the applicable offering documents, will be published in accordance with Mexican securities laws and the regulations of the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores at the appropriate time.

“This is an important step in our long-term vision for Flō and for the digital infrastructure that will support Mexico’s continued economic and technological development,” said Miguel Fernandez, Chief Executive Officer of Flō Networks. “By bringing together the complementary networks, capabilities and talent of Flō and Axtel, we have an opportunity to create a stronger digital infrastructure platform with greater scale, reach and capacity to serve customers across Mexico and beyond. We believe that stronger infrastructure enables stronger businesses, greater innovation and new opportunities for the communities and economies we connect.”

The proposed acquisition would combine complementary assets and expertise to strengthen Flō’s ability to invest in network resilience, expand its portfolio of digital services and deliver greater value to businesses operating in Mexico and across the region. Flō believes the combination would create meaningful operational and commercial synergies while supporting continued investment in the infrastructure required for critical technologies for productivity and competitiveness. The transaction would also create opportunities for long-term value creation for customers, employees, shareholders, partners and the communities the companies serve.

About Flō Networks

Founded as Transtelco in 2001, Flō Networks is a leading digital infrastructure provider connecting companies on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border and across the Americas. Flō provides comprehensive connectivity solutions and advanced cloud infrastructure to Fortune 500 companies, telecommunications providers and cable operators through a fiber-optic network spanning more than 30,000 route miles across the Southwestern United States and Mexico, with connectivity across fifteen countries throughout the Americas. For more information, visit flo.net.

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SOURCE Flō Networks

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Arista Demand Hires Jordanna Howard to Strengthen the Company’s Continued Growth

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SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Arista Demand, a leading provider of B2B demand generation solutions, is pleased to announce Jordanna Howard has joined the company as VP, Global Integrated Sales, effective September 1, 2026.

Prior to joining Arista Demand, Jordanna spent five years at Veritas Media Group, serving as VP of Client Services. Jordanna played a key part in growing VMG’s client portfolio and driving net-new revenue through new business partnerships, while also expanding and strengthening existing client relationships. She was instrumental in championing VMG’s reputation for white-glove service, exceptional client experiences, and long-term client success.

Jordanna joins Arista Demand as the organization continues to expand its capabilities, strengthen and build client partnerships, and help B2B organizations connect with the right prospects through results-driven demand generation and media initiatives.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jordanna to Arista Demand,” said Managing Director, Jennifer Sand. “She brings tremendous experience, energy, and a client-focused approach that aligns perfectly with how we work. Jordanna will be an important part of our continued growth, and we’re excited to have her on the team.”

In her new role, Jordanna will focus on client development, partnerships, and sales. Her experience in digital and non-traditional media will further strengthen Arista Demand’s ability to deliver innovative and integrated, measurable solutions, beyond lead gen, for clients.

“I’m excited to join Arista Demand and become part of a team that is so focused on its clients and their success,” said Howard. “I look forward to contributing to the company’s growth and helping our clients achieve meaningful results.”

Jordanna lives in Napa, California, with her partner, Jeff, and daughter, Mackie. Outside of work, she loves spending time with family and friends and is passionate about giving back.

She serves on UCSF’s Board of Directors for “All May See” vision foundation as well as sfBIG’s Board, supporting and connecting the Bay Area advertising community. Jordanna is also actively involved in her daughter’s school and is the troop leader for her local Girl Scouts Brownie troop.

About Arista Demand

Arista Demand helps B2B organizations accelerate revenue through intent targeted demand generation programs designed to connect brands with their respective audience that matter most. Through a combination of intent, 1st party data, strategy, technology, and client-focused execution, Arista Demand helps marketers build pipeline and drive measurable business results. Arista Demand brings buyers and sellers together around the globe. 

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SOURCE Arista Demand

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Reducto Unveils a Frontier Parsing Model That Makes the World’s Hardest Documents AI-Ready for 1¢ a Page

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The new r-1 model is the first in a family of document intelligence models that reduces parsing errors by up to 20% while replacing complex, multi-tool pipelines with a single model that costs up to 6× less.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Reducto today introduced r-1, a frontier document parsing model that turns complex PDFs, scans, spreadsheets, and other files into accurate, structured data for AI systems.

Reducto has already established itself as a leader in document parsing by handling the long tail of complex files that break conventional tools. Available today in preview, r-1 extends that lead—reducing errors by up to 20%, improving latency at high volumes, and bringing the all-in cost down to 1¢ per page.

Before an AI system can reason over a document, it must first understand what is on the page. That becomes difficult when meaning is encoded not only in text, but also in tables, handwriting, reading order, formatting, checkboxes, strikethroughs, and the position of content. A parser that misreads a financial table can give an AI agent the wrong numbers. One that drops a strikethrough can reverse the meaning of a contract.

Established services such as Amazon Textract and Azure Document Intelligence helped make cloud document processing widely available. But organizations working with complex documents often still combine multiple tools, models, and layers of post-processing to achieve the accuracy they need. In Reducto’s evaluations, r-1 outperformed commonly used hyper-scaler products and large LLMs on complex documents while providing a complete parse at one all-in price.

Built from the ground up and trained on some of the most challenging document data in the world, r-1 combines layout detection, reading order, tables, formatting, grounding, and granular citations in a single model. It is designed for the long tail of documents where simpler parsers break down, including dense tables, unusual layouts, low-quality scans, handwriting, watermarked content, and files that do not follow predictable templates.

By combining these capabilities, r-1 can handle an organization’s full document workload without requiring teams to route files among providers or maintain separate pipelines for different document types. Its flat price of 1¢ per page includes the complete parse, without additional model charges or feature-based multipliers.

r-1 is the first in a broader family of Reducto parsing models designed for different points on the accuracy, latency, and cost curve. Planned additions include r-1 mini, a smaller model for speed- and cost-sensitive workloads, and automatic routing that selects the right model for each page.

Organizations using another parser can receive up to $5,000 in credits to test r-1 on their most difficult documents, along with hands-on benchmarking support, at reducto.ai/migrate. r-1 is also available today in preview through a configuration flag in the Reducto Parse API.

About Reducto

Reducto is an agentic document platform that turns complex, real-world documents into structured data for AI agents and document-intensive workflows. The company has raised more than $108 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and First Round Capital and has processed more than a billion pages a month. Its customers include Harvey, Scale AI, Vanta, Airtable, Toast, and Fortune 10 enterprises.

 

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SOURCE Reducto

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