B. Riley Acts as Exclusive Financial Advisor to Autobytel in Its Acquisition of AutoUSA, a Subsidiary of AutoNation

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- B. Riley & Co., LLC (B. Riley) www.brileyco.com, a leading full service independent investment bank, announced that it has served as the exclusive financial advisor to Autobytel Inc. (NASDAQ: ABTL) in its acquisition of AutoUSA, a subsidiary of AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN).

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B. Riley Managing Directors Michael Lowell and Adam Little led the banking team in this engagement with Autobytel.  In connection with the transaction, B. Riley also provided a fairness opinion.

The transaction included $10 million in cash and a $1 million convertible note along with other consideration.

Irvine, California-based Autobytel is a leading provider of online consumer purchase requests and marketing resources to the automotive industry.  Ft. Lauderdale, Florida-based AutoUSA is a longstanding, premier Web-based auto leads and services provider.

This marks the sixth transaction that B. Riley has handled for Autobytel since 2007.  In September 2013, B. Riley represented Autobytel in its acquisition of Advanced Mobile, LLC, a King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based, full service mobile solutions company focused on the automotive industry.

"B. Riley works well with our team in developing and executing on our strategic initiatives," said Jeffrey H. Coats, President and CEO of Autobytel. "We are once again pleased to work with the B. Riley team in acquiring AutoUSA, which is a significant strategic milestone for us here at Autobytel. The B. Riley team's knowledge, understanding of our industry and advice have greatly assisted us over the years in building a strong and profitable business." 

Autobytel provides high quality consumer leads and associated marketing services to automotive dealers and manufacturers throughout the United States and offers consumers original online automotive content to help them make informed car-buying decisions. The company pioneered the automotive internet in 1995 with its flagship website www.autobytel.com.

About B. RILEY & CO.:
B. Riley & Co. is a leading independent investment bank which provides a full array of corporate finance, research, sales, trading and otcqx dad services to corporate, institutional and high net worth individual clients. Investment banking services include initial, secondary and follow-on offerings, institutional private placements, and merger and acquisitions advisory to public and private middle market companies. The firm is recognized for its distinguished equity research. Founded in 1997, B. RILEY is headquartered in Los Angeles and maintains offices in Newport Beach, San Francisco, Del Mar and New York. It is a member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information, please visit www.brileyco.com.

SOURCE B. Riley & Co., LLC