On July 26, 2023, Ben Liquidity entered into agreements to finance liquidity transactions with respect to alternative assets with a NAV of approximately $6.7 million (calculated as of March 31, 2023). Pursuant to such transactions, the Customer ExAlt Trusts agreed to acquire the alternative assets, and in exchange for the alternative assets, the customers agreed to receive 2,917,807 shares of Class A common stock at a price per share of $2.29.
On August 1, 2023, Ben Liquidity entered into agreements to finance liquidity transactions with respect to alternative assets with a NAV of approximately $37.7 million as of March 31, 2023. Pursuant to such transaction, the Customer ExAlt Trusts acquired the alternative assets, and in exchange for the alternative assets, the customers received (i) 3,768,995 shares of Series B-1 Resettable Convertible Preferred Stock of Beneficient, par value $0.001 per share (the “Series B-1 Preferred Stock”) at a price of $10.00 of NAV per share, with such Series B-1 preferred stock being convertible into shares of Class A common stock, and (ii) 942,249 Warrants.
Each share of Series B-1 Preferred Stock is convertible at the election of the holder into shares of Class A common stock based on an initial conversion price of $5.46 per share (the “Conversion Price”), subject to reset from time to time and a $2.73 per share floor price. On October 3, 2023, 3,768,995 shares of Series B-1 Preferred Stock converted into 13,805,841 shares of Class A common stock.
Recent Equity Issuances
On June 8, 2023, we issued 202,484 shares of Class A common stock to ACE Portal, Inc. in exchange for its Class S Ordinary Units of BCH (the “BCH Class S Ordinary Units”). Furthermore, we issued 202,058 shares of Class A common stock to an unrelated individual in exchange for his BCH Class S Ordinary Units. Such BCH Class S Ordinary Units held by ACE Portal, Inc. and such individual converted into shares of Class A common stock on a one-to-one basis pursuant to the terms of the BCH LPA.
On June 27, 2023, we issued 274,500 shares of our Class A common stock to Maxim Group LLC pursuant to a Settlement and Release Agreement dated June 7, 2023, entered into in connection with the Business Combination.
On August 22, 2023, we issued 2,917,807 shares of Class A common stock at a price per share of $2.29 in connection with the July 26, 2023 liquidity transaction mentioned above.
On each of October 2, 2023 and October 4, 2023, Yorkville purchased 20,000 and 500,000 shares of Class A common stock for $2.39 and $1.27 per share, respectively, pursuant to the terms of the SEPA. Such issuances were in reliance upon the exemption provided in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and Rule 506(b) promulgated thereunder.
Conversion of BCH Preferred Series C-1
Pursuant to the UPA, on July 10, 2023, the BCH Preferred C-1 Unit Accounts of BHC (“BCH Preferred C-1 Unit Accounts”) automatically converted into 44,040,761 shares of Class A common stock at approximately $4.66 per share, which represents the volume-weighted average trading price of the Class A common stock for the 20 trading days following the closing of the Business Combination.
Operating Cost Reduction Plan
On July 11, 2023, the Board approved certain measures to reduce the operating expenses of the Company with a view toward focusing resources on areas of current business needs. As part of this plan, we commenced the furlough of approximately 30 employees, representing approximately 20% of our workforce as of July 11, 2023. We also intend to reduce spending with third-party vendors in certain parts of our business as part of the plan to reduce operating expenses. Such reduction in vendor spend could decrease professional services and other