ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., June 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Asta Funding, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASFI) today announced that it has entered into an amendment to the merger agreement under which the Stern Group, comprised of Gary Stern, Ricky Stern and certain related parties will acquire the outstanding publicly held shares of common stock of Asta through the merger of Asta with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asta Finance Acquisition Inc., with Asta surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent. The Merger Agreement was originally entered into on April 8, 2020.
The Merger Agreement originally provided that each share of outstanding common stock would be purchased for $11.47 in cash. However, pursuant to the Amendment, each share of outstanding common stock will be purchased for $13.10 in cash. The new purchase price represents an increase of $1.63 per share over the original purchase price and a premium of approximately 18% to Asta’s closing stock price on June 24, 2020, the last trading day prior to this announcement.
The Merger Agreement and Amendment were approved by the board of directors of Asta (the “Board”) (without the participation of Gary Stern), acting on the unanimous recommendation of a special committee of independent and disinterested directors (the “Special Committee”) that was granted full authority to conduct a comprehensive strategic review and evaluate, and if warranted, negotiate an acquisition proposal.
The Company also entered into a voting agreement with RBF Capital, LLC, a stockholder of the Company. Pursuant to the voting agreement, which is required by the Amendment, RBF has agreed to vote all shares owned by it in favor of the Merger Agreement and Amendment.
The Merger will be financed by a committed loan facility provided by Bank Leumi USA.
The Merger is expected to close in Asta’s fourth fiscal quarter of 2020 and is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions as well as the approval by Asta’s stockholders other than the Stern Group. The Asta Board recommends that Asta’s stockholders vote to adopt and approve the Merger Agreement. Upon closing, Asta will become a privately held company and as such, the Company’s shares of common stock will no longer be listed or traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Advisors
Lincoln International LLC is serving as financial advisor to the Special Committee, Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP is serving as legal counsel to the Special Committee, and Pepper Hamilton LLP is serving as legal counsel to the Company.
About Asta
Asta Funding, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASFI), headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company that assists consumers and serves investors through the strategic management of three complementary business segments: consumer receivables, social security disability advocacy and personal injury claims. For more information, please visit http://www.astafunding.com.
