NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--National Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:NHLD) ("National Holdings" or the "Company"), a full-service investment banking and asset management firm, today announced that the Company’s broker-dealer subsidiary, National Securities Corporation, in conjunction with its affiliate, Roger Monteforte through his Forte Capital Group, have acted as the broker of record for Kingdom Holding Corporation’s (“KHC”) purchase of approximately $150 million worth of Lyft, Inc. shares in the secondary market as well as the investment by KHC, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and other parties of $100 million in Lyft, Inc.’s (“Lyft”) recent Series F capital increase, which was announced on January 4th, 2016.
According to Lyft, it is the fastest-growing rideshare platform in the United States, completing 7 million rides per month in more than 190 cities. As a private company, Lyft shares are not traded on any stock exchange and are held mostly by a small group of institutional investors. Roger Monteforte, Founder and CEO of Forte Capital Group (“Forte”), and Philippe Alves, managing director of Forte's private shares group, led the effort to source and execute the trades for National Securities. According to KHC’s Executive Director of International and Private Equity, “Forte Capital Group, and in particular, Mr. Alves did an exceptional job of enabling us to achieve our investment objectives and to be in-the-money on our investment, day one. The ability of Forte Capital Group to secure the secondary market purchase is what ultimately led us to invest in Lyft’s Series F Primary round. We look forward to working with Forte and National on future transactions.” Mr. Monteforte added,” I am extremely proud of our ability to deliver for KHC despite a difficult market environment and strong competition for Lyft shares. This trade clearly demonstrates the breadth of our capabilities.”
“This trade marks a key milestone in our efforts to develop our private share trading operations, which we expect will be a key contributor to our overall business going forward,” said Mark Goldwasser, President of National Holdings and CEO of National Securities. Mr. Goldwasser concluded “being able to execute such a large transaction for one of the world’s most well-known and highly sophisticated investors is a testament to the strength of the National platform.”
About National Holdings Corporation
National Holdings Corporation is a full-service investment banking and asset management firm that provides a range of services, including independent retail brokerage and advisory services, investment banking, institutional sales and trading and equity research, financial planning, market making, tax preparation, insurance and annuities, to corporations, institutional investors and high net-worth clients. With over 1,100 independent advisors, registered reps, traders and sales associates, the Company is a leading Independent Advisor and Broker services company. National operates through five subsidiaries: National Securities Corporation, vFinance Investments, Inc., National Insurance Corporation, National Asset Management, Inc. and Gilman Ciocia, Inc. The Company’s National Securities subsidiary was founded in 1947. National was organized in 1999 and is headquartered in New York and Florida. For more information, visit www.nhldcorp.com.
About Forte Capital Group
Roger Monteforte founded Forte Capital Group, in 2001 and heads one of the largest independently owned and operated branch offices in the National Securities Corporation network. Mr. Monteforte and his associates at Forte Capital Group are dedicated to assisting both institutional and individual investors in pursuing their financial goals by providing a full array of financial services. For more information, visit www.fortecapitalgroup.com
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements. Any such statements, other than statements of historical fact, are based on management’s current expectations, estimates, projections, beliefs and assumptions about the Company, its current and prospective portfolio investments, and its industry. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Actual developments and results are likely to vary materially from these estimates and projections as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in National’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such statements speak only as of the time when made, and National undertakes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.