DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
The RENN Fund, Inc. (NYSE MKT: RCG) (the “Fund”) entered into a Letter of Intent on October 19, 2016 with Horizon Kinetics LLC (“Horizon”), through one of its wholly owned subsidiary investment advisers, to become the new investment manager of the Fund, subject to shareholder approval. On April 28, 2017, the Fund filed a definitive proxy1 outlining the proposals submitted to shareholders for approval. The Board of Directors of the Fund (the “Board”) recommends that shareholders vote in favor of all proposals at or prior to the Special Meeting to be held on June 5, 2017.
The Board and Horizon believe the proposed transaction is superior to a fund liquidation, as it provides shareholders with a number of benefits (if approved) including:
- Horizon will waive its management fee until net assets reach $25 million. Thereafter, Horizon will only charge a management fee of 1% of fund net assets above $25 million, well below the current fee of 1.75%.
- Horizon intends to make full use of the Fund’s considerable tax loss carryforwards, subject to tax and regulatory restrictions, which is an asset to shareholders that might not be fully utilized in a liquidation scenario.
- Horizon intends to lower operating expenses by leveraging its resources and relationships with existing vendors.
- Horizon intends to grow the assets of the fund to more sustainable levels, both through asset appreciation and a rights offering or other available recapitalization mechanism.
If approved by shareholders, Horizon, an accomplished investment manager with over $5 billion in assets under management, will bring its 30-plus years of investing experience to the Fund. The Board and Horizon believe it is a unique opportunity for shareholders to potentially realize investment returns in the Fund in a tax efficient manner while incurring no management fee until net assets reach $25 million. Russell Cleveland, the Fund’s President and CEO commented, “I urge shareholders to vote in favor of these proposals. Horizon has a long track-record of successful investing, and I look forward to working with them in an effort to increase the assets of this fund, narrow the current discount to net asset value, and hopefully provide shareholders with a good return over time.”
1 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/919567/000089180417000307/rf70595-def14a.htm
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