Great American Group Inc. has closed a private stock placement that raised about $51.4 million. The Woodland Hills company, which provides liquidation auctions and financing for distressed companies, announced last month it will merge with B. Riley & Co. LLC, an investment bank in Los Angeles. In conjunction with the merger, it agreed to pay off debts owed to co-founders Andrew Gumaer and Harvey Yellen. Great American settled the debt for about $30 million plus interest. Also, the company executed a 20-to-1 reverse stock split on June 3. The move reduced the number of outstanding shares from 30 million to about 1.5 million, but the private placement increased the float to roughly 11.8 million shares outstanding. The merger is expected to close in late June. No shares of Great American traded on Friday, with the share price remaining flat at 52 cents on the over-the-counter market. The seven members of the board of directors of BNK Petroleum Inc. were re-elected on Thursday at the company’s annual meeting in Vancouver, B.C. Among the directors of the Camarillo oil and gas exploration company continuing to serve are Chief Executive Wolf Regener and Chairman Ford Nicholson, president of Vancouver investment firm Kepis & Pobe Financial Group Inc. At the annual meeting, company executives gave an update on BNK’s drilling operations in Poland and Oklahoma. Shares closed down 13 cents, or more than 7 percent, to $1.59 in over-the-counter trading. Princess Cruises has donated $832,000 to the American Heart Association. The Santa Clarita-based cruise line held a special sailing in February as part of a “Cruising for a Cause” campaign. The donation was raised through cruise fares, and the company matched the amount by 100 percent. During the themed cruise, guests participated in activities to learn CPR, how to manage stress and dieting, as well as receive blood pressure screenings. This sailing marked Princess’ second fundraiser aboard a ship. Last November, the cruise line raised $600,000 for veterans. Princess Cruises is a unit of Carnival Corp & plc, based in suburban Miami.
