B. Riley Financial has agreed to acquire FocalPoint Securities, LLC, a leading independent investment bank based in Los Angeles, for total consideration of up to $175 million. The transaction, which will create revenue synergies for both companies, comes as FocalPoint is experiencing significant momentum with $17 billon in closed transactions spanning a successful 20-year history. The combination is expected to more than quadruple B. Riley’s pro forma M&A advisory business, while significantly enhancing its debt capital markets and financial restructuring capabilities.
Founded in 2002, FocalPoint specializes in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private capital advisory, financial restructuring, and special situation transactions. The firm includes approximately 50 investment banking professionals with deep industry specialization in high-growth sectors such as aerospace and defense (A&D), industrials, business services, consumer, healthcare, and technology/media/telecom (TMT). The combination of B. Riley and FocalPoint builds upon the momentum and proven execution capabilities of both firms and is in line with B. Riley’s stated intent to expand capabilities in M&A advisory and fixed income. This combination provides strategic and financial sponsor clients with access to both firms’ proven execution capabilities and a full suite of end-to-end services from a single platform.
Bryant Riley, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of B. Riley Financial, said: “FocalPoint is a world class firm known for its ability to handle complex deals with speed, accuracy, and quality. This combination builds on our long and successful track record of acquiring and integrating other complementary businesses that can provide us with additional scale and capabilities to expand our small and middle market leadership. With both companies having started off around the same time, in the same area of Southern California, and building meaningful niches within our industries, this deal carries special significance for me. We could not be more excited to welcome the FocalPoint team to B. Riley.”
“We’ve long admired the unique platform the B. Riley team has been building and are thrilled to now become an integral part of it. We have grown tremendously over the last 20 years and believe we will be able to compete even more aggressively in the marketplace going forward,” said Nishen Radia, co-founder of FocalPoint. Added co-founder Duane Stullich, “This transaction brings more breadth and depth to our teams in M&A, debt capital markets, and financial restructuring while maintaining the entrepreneurial and collegial culture that has made FocalPoint a success.”
According to Rajesh Sood, Managing Partner of FocalPoint, “The combination will allow us to provide greater opportunities for our people and provide our clients with access to meaningfully more products and services. We are thrilled to take this next step and look forward to the next chapter with B. Riley.”
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP acted as legal counsel to B. Riley Financial. Sidley Austin LLP and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton LLP served as legal counsel to FocalPoint. Houlihan Lokey served as financial adviser to FocalPoint.