News

East Asset Management LLC has agreed to acquire about 8.3 million shares in Rand Capital Corporation, a business development company, for $25 million. The deal is expected to close during the third quarter of 2019. Following the closing of the transaction, Rand will continue to trade on the NASDAQ under the ticker “RAND” while EAM will own approximately 57 percent of shares in Rand.

PRESS RELEASE

BUFFALO, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rand Capital Corporation (Nasdaq:RAND) (“Rand” or “Rand Capital” or the “Company”), announced today that the Board of Directors has entered into a stock purchase agreement to sell approximately 8.3 million shares of Rand Capital’s common stock to East Asset Management, LLC (“EAM”) for $25 million in cash and assets. The purchase price of $3.00 per share represents a 33% premium over the January 24, 2019 closing price of $2.26 per share. The sale and issuance of common stock pursuant to this stock purchase agreement is subject to shareholder approval and receipt of required regulatory approval from the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”).

Erland (“Erkie”) Kailbourne, Chairman of the Board of Rand Capital, noted, “We believe the strategic investment by East Asset Management into Rand is both a testament to the success of our organization and a transforming opportunity for future growth. The additional assets provide us greater scale with more income-producing instruments that are immediately accretive to net investment income, while the cash enhances our liquidity and enables further expansion of our investment portfolio. We also expect the externalization of management to reduce our expense-to-asset ratio, thereby improving our earnings power. Following the closing of the transactions, we intend to use cash and stock to pay a special dividend to shareholders and also intend to institute on-going cash dividends. The Board of Directors is unanimously recommending that shareholders approve the transactions.”

Adam Gusky, Chief Investment Officer at East Asset Management, said “Our investment in Rand demonstrates our confidence in the potential of the Company, as well as our continued dedication to Buffalo and Western New York. With additional capital resources, an enhanced investment team, streamlined operations and a shareholder-friendly structure, we are excited about Rand’s potential to deliver consistent shareholder value over time.”

The Proposed Transactions
EAM plans to purchase approximately 8.3 million in Rand shares for $25 million consisting of approximately $13.5 million in cash and the contribution of approximately $11.5 million in portfolio assets. The contributed portfolio assets are income-producing instruments that were originated in the last 48 months and will immediately increase net investment income for Rand. EAM will hold approximately 57% of shares outstanding following the share purchase.

A new entity, Rand Capital Management, LLC (“RCM”), will be established as an external management company and will be retained by Rand Capital to be its investment advisor. RCM’s operations will remain in Buffalo, New York, with Allen F. “Pete” Grum as President and Chief Executive Officer, and Daniel P. Penberthy as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, for RCM. They will continue as well as members of RCM’s investment committee. The retention of RCM to externalize the management structure is also subject to shareholder approval.

The proposed transactions, which are subject to certain shareholder and regulatory approvals and consents, is expected to close during the third quarter of 2019. Following the close, Rand will continue to trade on the Nasdaq under its ticker “RAND” and will operate as an externally-managed business development corporation (“BDC”).

Post Transaction Restructuring to Regulated Investment Company (RIC), Planned Special Dividend to Shareholders and Intent to Pay Ongoing Regular Cash Dividends

In connection with closing and contingent upon meeting certain tax-related conditions, Rand intends to elect to become a regulated investment company (“RIC”) for U.S. federal tax purposes enabling the pass through of capital gains and investment income to shareholders without payment of corporate-level U.S. federal income tax by Rand.

To qualify as a RIC, Rand’s Board of Directors intends to declare a special dividend of an estimated $22 million, or $1.50 per share, representing its current estimate of accumulated earnings and profits since inception. The dividend amount is subject to final determination of the estimate after closing. The dividend is expected to be comprised of 20% cash and 80% stock. Each shareholder will have the opportunity to elect to receive the dividend in cash or additional shares of Rand stock.

The exact distribution of cash and stock to any given shareholder will be subject to limitation on the aggregate amount of cash and stock available for distribution, as well as the individual and collective elections by shareholders. The entire distribution will be taxable to shareholders regardless of whether it is received in cash, stock, or any combination thereof.

In addition to the externalization of management, the intent of the restructuring and addition of yielding assets is to enable Rand to become a regular dividend-paying BDC. Rand intends to pay greater than 90% of its investment company taxable income in regular cash dividends to shareholders.

Future Growth Strategy
Daniel P. Penberthy, Executive Vice President and CFO, of Rand Capital, commented, “Following the establishment of an external management company, we believe our expanded resources will broaden our potential pipeline of investment opportunities in order to build our portfolio and grow net investment income. Strategically, we expect to advance our efforts to increase our income producing investments that can support a regular cash dividend for shareholders and complement our equity investments that drive capital appreciation.”

Pete Grum, President and CEO, concluded, “This is a transformational event for Rand Capital and we believe East Asset Management is a perfect partner. The benefits of their investment and management talent provide the platform for future growth that will benefit Rand shareholders. We hope you are as excited to be a part of this evolution as we are.”

CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST
Rand Capital will host a presentation only conference call and webcast at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time today to review the transactions. The review will be accompanied by a slide presentation, which will be available on Rand’s website at www.randcapital.com under “Investor Relations”. Rand’s conference call can be accessed by calling (201) 689-8263. Alternatively, the webcast can be monitored on Rand’s website at www.randcapital.com under “Investor Relations”.

A telephonic replay will be available from approximately 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, January 25, through Friday, February 1, 2019. To listen to the archived call, dial (412) 317-6671, and enter conference ID number 13686198. A transcript of the call will be placed on Rand’s website, once available.

About Rand Capital
Rand Capital (Nasdaq: RAND) is a Business Development Company (BDC) with a wholly-owned subsidiary licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC). Rand focuses its equity investments in early or expansion stage companies and generally lends to more mature companies. The Company seeks investment opportunities in businesses with strong leaders who are bringing to market new or unique products, technologies or services that have a high potential for growth. Additional information can be found at the Company’s website where it regularly posts information: http://www.randcapital.com/.

About East Asset Management
East Asset Management (EAM), formed in 2010, is dedicated to investing in private & public market securities and has formed multiple investment vehicles that provide capital to a variety of industries including energy, media, real estate, hospitality, sports and entertainment. EAM has developed a unique and proprietary network for sourcing investment opportunities, including opportunities in the private credit/current yield space, leveraging both its in-house and affiliated investment talent and capabilities. EAM is an entity owned by Terry and Kim Pegula, owners of Pegula Sports & Entertainment: the management company streamlining key business areas across all Pegula family-owned sports and entertainment properties including the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bandits, Rochester Americans, Harborcenter, Black River Entertainment, ADPRO Sports, PicSix Creative agency and numerous hospitality properties.