Beneficient to acquire Mercantile Bank for $1.5M in cash, shares

Beneficient (BENF) announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Mercantile Bank, a Puerto Rico-based International Financial Entity, in exchange for an aggregate purchase price of $1.5M, which is payable in up to approximately 2.1M shares of the company’s Class A common stock and cash. Upon closing of the acquisition, the company expects to expand its offering of custody services to also address the current needs of large institutional investors and the needs of third-party alternative trading systems and foreign securities exchanges. The company expects this companion business line to begin generating custody and depositary receipt issuance fee-based revenue and cash flow during calendar year 2025 that it would deploy to fund Beneficient’s ongoing operations and ultimately our core alternative asset liquidity product offerings. The acquisition reflects Beneficient’s execution on its objective of expanding its alternative asset custody fee-based service offerings to third parties and institutional investors. Closing of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including, among other things, approval by OCIF, and is anticipated to be completed in the second calendar quarter of 2025.