B. Riley SPAC to Merge with Alta Equipment

B. Riley Principal Merger Corp. announced Thursday it will combine with Alta Equipment Holdings Inc., a provider of industrial and construction equipment. The former is a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, or SPAC, based in New York and sponsored by B. Riley Principal Sponsor Co., a subsidiary of Woodland Hills financial holding company B. Riley Financial. The combined company will become a publicly traded equipment dealership platform called Alta Equipment Group Inc., listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ALTG. It is expected to have total revenue of about $900 million. “Alta is the exact type of company we envisioned bringing to market when we raised BRPM,” Bryant Riley, Co-Chief Executive of B. Riley Financial, said in a statement. “This is a high-quality growth business with a proven management team that we believe deserves and will benefit from public currency. We have already seen a strong reception from a diverse group of long-term oriented shareholders, and we are excited to serve as a strategic partner to Alta in support of its future growth.” The merger is valued at $550 million and will be funded with equity and debt financing, including a $300 million revolving credit facility, according to Yahoo Finance. Once the deal is closed, Alta Equipment will operate in 43 locations across Michigan, Illinois, New York, New England and Florida. It will expand outward from there. The executive management team will be led by Chief Executive Ryan Greenawalt, who has been with Alta for more than a decade. During his tenure Alta has acquired 16 equipment dealerships and grown revenue at a compound annual rate of 27 percent since 2008.