B. Riley Financial announced the launch of B. Riley Financial Sponsors Group. The team will focus on developing and maintaining relationships with alternative capital managers, including private equity firms, family offices, sovereign wealth, credit funds and hedge funds. Dan Kraft and Tim Bottrell recently joined B. Riley to lead the group as Co-Directors of Financial Sponsors Coverage.

"The launch of our Financial Sponsors Group is a key milestone for B. Riley enabling us to dedicate the right resources to drive value for middle market sponsors and alternative capital managers. With each assignment, we will deliver the broad service offering and benefits of B. Riley Financial," said Tom Kelleher, co-Chief Executive Officer, B. Riley Financial. "We're thrilled to have Dan and Tim leading the effort. Their deep relationships and expertise will help ensure we're delivering superior results to our clients."

In their new roles, Dan and Tim will be focused on developing relationships with sponsors, collaborating with B. Riley Senior Management and coordinating with personnel who routinely interact with sponsors.

"I'm excited to be a part of a firm with so much to offer," said Mr. Kraft. "I look forward to bringing B. Riley's robust range of capabilities to the sponsor community."

"I'm thrilled to support the Company's rapid growth with a creative and differentiated approach that will help the firm continue to expand and strengthen its sponsor relationships," said Mr. Bottrell.

Mr. Kraft joins the firm with over seven years of investment banking experience where most recently he served as a Vice President in the Financial Sponsors Group at J.P. Morgan. During his tenure, Dan assisted with dozens of M&A advisory assignments, debt and equity capital fundraises for both public and private companies. Earlier in his career, he was at Bank of America serving large-cap investment grade clients. Dan holds a BS in Finance and Economics from The University of New Hampshire. He will be based in B. Riley's Los Angeles office.

Mr. Bottrell comes aboard from Goldman Sachs' Global Markets Division where he led the Multi-Asset Originations effort. During his tenure, he originated dozens of public and private investment, lending, and co-investment opportunities across Investment Banking, Merchant Banking, Private Wealth Management and Global Markets. Tim began his career at Bloomberg LP, where he was an original member of the Bloomberg Mandates platform. He holds a BS in Economics from Rutgers University and will be based in B. Riley's New York office.