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LivePerson Founder Robert P. LoCascio Files Preliminary Proxy Statement, Nominates Two Highly Qualified Candidates Focused on AI and Enterprise B2B to the LivePerson Board of Directors

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Nominees Walter Bachtiger and Michal Czwarno Bring Much-Needed Expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge of LivePerson’s Operations and Deep Understanding of Evolving AI Market Dynamics

NEW YORK, Aug. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Robert P. LoCascio, Founder and former CEO of LivePerson, Inc. (“LivePerson” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: LPSN) and beneficial owner of approximately 2.4% of the outstanding shares of Company common stock, today announced that he has nominated two independent, highly qualified nominees (the “Nominees”) for election to the LivePerson Board of Directors (the “Board”) at the Company’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Mr. LoCascio has filed a preliminary proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

The nominees, Walter Bachtiger, Founder and CEO of TimeTrust, a Silicon Valley FinTech company and former LivePerson Vice President, and Michal Czwarno, a strategic technology business leader with substantial experience in global strategy formation and execution, would bring much-needed AI industry and Business to Business (“B2B”) experience to the Board.

LivePerson was at one time a leading AI company, but since August 2023, the value of its stock has fallen by approximately 80%, including a 47% single-day drop following the Company’s February 2024 earnings call in which management announced an unprecedented $100 million revenue loss due to customer churn. Further, Mr. LoCascio believes the Company undertook a debt restructuring plan in May 2024 that was dilutive to equity stockholders and increased the Company’s covenants restrictions and exposure to interest rates. There are also notable recent departures of key employees, especially from the Company’s data science team. The goal should be to reestablish LivePerson as a leading global provider in the conversational AI contact center space and the AI space overall.

Mr. LoCascio believes that a refreshed Board, with a deep understanding of LivePerson’s operations and the evolving market dynamics surrounding AI and the contact center sector, would allow the Company to regain a market-leading position and the confidence of its stockholders. Mr. LoCascio also believes that with the right strategic plan and Board composition, the Company can rapidly unlock the potential of its unique data and platform assets. Mr. LoCascio’s Nominees bring the relevant expertise, experience and knowledge to return the Company to its historical strategy of innovation, and bring an important and currently lacking stockholder mentality to the Board.

“I spent nearly three decades building LivePerson into an industry-leading conversational AI platform that was uniquely positioned to capitalize on the AI revolution, and the Company’s performance has not reflected that opportunity,” said Mr. LoCascio. “The current Board and management team would benefit greatly from a clear and cohesive plan around its operational and customer acquisition and retention strategy designed to reduce and prevent significant customer churn and restore value to the Company’s stock price.

“I remain confident in LivePerson’s business and am fully committed to helping restore the Company’s reputation. With the right strategic plan, spearheaded by the right Board and management team, LivePerson can regain its AI industry leadership and provide tremendous value to its stockholders. Walter and Michal both bring unique and direct understanding of the Company’s offerings, operations and rapidly evolving industry dynamics, along with relevant experience in key areas of the AI market. I know they would help quickly realign LivePerson’s focus to further drive innovation and reestablish it as the partner of choice for some of the world’s largest brands.”

Biographies of the Nominees follow:

Walter Bachtiger
A current LivePerson stockholder, Walter Bachtiger is a seasoned SaaS and B2B executive currently serving as Founder and CEO of TimeTrust, a Silicon Valley Fintech company. From 2022 to 2024, Mr.Bachtiger served as Vice President of Voice AI at LivePerson, where he researched and delivered chat support systems to Fortune 500 companies powered by various commercial and open source LLMs (Transformers/ChatGPT) AI systems. Previously, from 2009 to 2021, he served as Founder and CEO of VoiceBase, Inc.  before it was acquired by LivePerson. Since 2022, Mr. Bachtiger has also served on the advisory board of New Native AB, a fast growing Swedish AI investment and research company.

Michal Czwarno
Michal Czwarno is a strategic technology business leader, manager and entrepreneur with a proven track record in scaling software companies. Mr. Czwarno is the former Interim Head of GTM Operations, Enablement and Enterprise Strategy at Asana, a work management software company, where he served in 2023. Between 2014 and 2023, he served as President and Chief Revenue Officer at PageUp, where he led marketing, sales and sales development, professional services, customer success and renewals; and Vice-President of Expansion at DocuSign, a major document management software company, orchestrating key initiatives related to DocuSign’s vision, strategy, product marketing, operations and enablement efforts globally.

Media Contacts:
ASC Advisors
Taylor Ingraham / Morgan Davis
tingraham@ascadvisors.com / mdavis@ascadvisors.com
203-992-1230

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein in any state to any person.  The information herein contains “forward-looking statements”.  Specific forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and include, without limitation, words such as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “estimates,” “projects,” “potential,” “targets,” “forecasts,” “seeks,” “could,” “should” or the negative of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology.  Similarly, statements that describe our objectives, plans or goals are forward-looking.  Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and assumptions.  There can be no assurance that any idea or assumption herein is, or will be proven, correct or that any of the objectives, plans or goals stated herein will ultimately be undertaken or achieved.  If one or more of such risks or uncertainties materialize, or if the underlying assumptions of Robert P. LoCascio (“Mr. LoCascio”) and Ikon LP (collectively, the “LoCascio Parties”) prove to be incorrect, the actual results may vary materially from outcomes indicated by these statements.  Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by Mr. LoCascio that the future plans, estimates or expectations contemplated will ever be achieved.  Mr. LoCascio has neither sought nor obtained consent from any third party to use previously published information in this press release, including any quotes used in this press release.

Important Information
The LoCascio Parties, Walter Bachtiger and Michal Czwarno (collectively, the “Participants”) intend to file a definitive proxy statement and accompanying form of WHITE proxy card with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to be used in connection with the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of LivePerson, Inc. (the “Company”).  Stockholders of the Company are advised to read the definitive proxy statement and other documents related to the solicitation of proxies with respect to the Company by the Participants as they become available because they will contain important information.  They will be made available at no charge on the SEC’s website, https://www.sec.gov/.

Information about the Participants and a description of their direct or indirect interests by security holdings or otherwise can be found in the preliminary proxy statement filed with the SEC on Schedule 14A by Mr. LoCascio on August 20, 2024.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/liveperson-founder-robert-p-locascio-files-preliminary-proxy-statement-nominates-two-highly-qualified-candidates-focused-on-ai-and-enterprise-b2b-to-the-liveperson-board-of-directors-302226893.html

SOURCE Robert LoCascio

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Greenlane Renewables Announces Management and Board of Director Changes

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November 15, 2024

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~Appointment of Stephanie Mason as CFO completes planned succession~

VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 15, 2024 /CNW/ – Greenlane Renewables Inc. (“Greenlane”) (TSX: GRN) (FSE: 52G) today announces the appointment of Stephanie Mason as Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), effective January 13, 2025.

Ms. Mason brings over 15 years of experience to her new role as Greenlane’s CFO. Ms. Mason has been with Greenlane for over 4 years, most recently as Director of Finance following a promotion from Corporate Controller. Prior to working at Greenlane, Ms. Mason gained experience at other TSX-listed renewable energy companies managing teams responsible for financial reporting, regulatory compliance and other finance activities. Ms. Mason developed her strong accounting foundation at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she obtained her CPA, CA designation.

“We are excited to welcome Stephanie into the role of CFO,” said Brad Douville, CEO of Greenlane Renewables. “Stephanie brings a depth of expertise in finance, reporting, and operations and provides continuity in leadership at Greenlane. Transitioning overall financial leadership from Monty Balderston to Stephanie starting at the beginning of 2025 completes a planned succession as we continue to advance our strategic goals in the RNG space. During his tenure as CFO over the last couple of years, Monty has provided solid leadership of the finance function at Greenlane and played a pivotal role on the senior management team. I want to thank Monty for all of his contributions.”

“I am honored to become Greenlane’s CFO. This is an organization recognized for its commitment to sustainability and innovation,” stated Ms. Mason. “I look forward to contributing to the company’s financial reporting strength and supporting its growth objectives.”

Mr. Balderston will remain as CFO until voluntarily resigning effective January 13, 2025. Mr. Balderston will support the transition to Ms. Mason upon her appointment, following which he will leave the Company on January 24, 2025.

Further to the management update announced on August 23, 2024, Ian Kane will be completing his transitional role as President and will leave the Company on November 22, 2024 when he will step down from Greenlane’s Board of Directors. The Company wishes to thank Mr. Kane for all of his efforts in helping drive Greenlane’s business plan.

About Greenlane Renewables

Greenlane is driving change: accelerating the energy transition to a net-zero emissions economy. We are cleaning up two of the largest and most difficult to decarbonize sectors of the global energy system: the natural gas grid and commercial transportation. As a pioneer and leading specialist in biogas upgrading, we have been actively contributing to the decarbonization of our planet for over 35 years. The systems we provide transform biogas generated from organic waste into high-value grid-ready renewable natural gas (“RNG”). Our systems produce clean, low-carbon and carbon-negative RNG from organic waste sources including agriculture (such as dairy and hog manure), water resource recovery facilities, food waste, landfills, and sugar mills. Greenlane is the only biogas upgrading company offering and actively deploying the three main upgrading technologies: waterwash, pressure swing adsorption, and membrane separation, plus proprietary biogas desulfurization technology. Greenlane has delivered over 145 biogas upgrading systems into 19 countries, including some of the largest RNG production facilities in the world, and over 160 biogas desulfurization units. For further information, please visit www.greenlanerenewables.com.

SOURCE Greenlane Renewables Inc.

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Eastside Distilling, Inc. Announces Private Placement Offering

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10 minutes ago

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November 15, 2024

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Eastside Distilling, Bridgetown Spirits Corp., a consumer-focused beverage company that builds craft inspired experiential brands and Beeline Financial Holdings, Inc. (“Beeline”), a digital mortgage technology and lending company, announces the completion of a private placement offering (the “Offering”) with accredited investors, resulting in gross proceeds of $1,615,000.

PORTLAND, Ore. and PROVIDENCE, R.I. , Nov. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Eastside Distilling, Inc. (NASDAQ: EAST) (“Eastside” or the “Company”), a holding company for Bridgetown Spirits Corp., a consumer-focused beverage company that builds craft inspired experiential brands and for Beeline Financial Holdings, Inc. (“Beeline”), a digital mortgage technology and lending company, announces the completion of a private placement offering (the “Offering”) with accredited investors, resulting in gross proceeds of $1,615,000. Under the terms of a Securities Purchase Agreement, the Company sold $1,938,000 in original issue discount Senior Secured Notes (the “Notes”) and Pre-Funded Warrants to purchase 363,602 shares of Common Stock (the “Warrants”).

Joseph Gunnar & Co., LLC acted as the exclusive placement agent in connection with the Offering.

For an overview of the terms of the securities and transactions involved in the Offering, and copies of the forms of transaction documents entered into in connection therewith, please refer to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 15, 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company plans to utilize the net proceeds for working capital and general corporate expenses, among other uses.

About Eastside Distilling

Eastside Distilling, Inc. (Nasdaq: EAST) is a producer of award-winning craft spirits, including whiskey, vodka, and rum. Founded in Portland, Oregon, Eastside is committed to quality, innovation, and sustainability, delivering exceptional products that reflect the spirit of the Pacific Northwest.

About Beeline Financial Holdings, Inc.

The Company recently closed on a merger with Beeline Financial Holdings, Inc. Beeline is a technology-driven mortgage lender offering a fully digital, AI-enhanced, platform that simplifies and accelerates the home financing process for homeowners and property investors. Based in Providence, RI, Beeline is dedicated to transforming the mortgage industry through innovative technology and customer-centric solutions.

Media Contact

Nick Luzza, BEELINE MORTGAGE , LLC Refinance, 1 4014184461 4014184461, nick@makeabeeline.com, https://www.eastsidedistilling.com/ 

View original content:https://www.prweb.com/releases/eastside-distilling-inc-announces-private-placement-offering-302306634.html

SOURCE BEELINE MORTGAGE , LLC Refinance

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The game-changer: New partnership between real estate tech innovator and luxury brokerage investor just gave agents at select firms valuable advantages and ease

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10 minutes ago

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November 15, 2024

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DALLAS, Nov. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The parent company of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty, the leading luxury brokerage in Dallas, Fort Worth and all of North Texas, announces its groundbreaking partnership with Rechat, real estate’s only AI-powered Experience Management Platform for agents.          

Peerage Realty Partners, the world’s largest strategic investor in Sotheby’s International Realty affiliates, and Dallas-based Rechat have just advanced the real estate industry in a significant leap, through state-of-the-art technology. With the partnership, Rechat is now offering its advanced suite of tools and services to all Peerage Realty Partners brokerages — 206 offices across the U.S. and Canada — equipping its advisors with valuable advancements in real estate technology.          

Rechat was built to solve a universal and persistent problem faced by agents: the need to toggle between disparate platforms to manage the various aspects of their business. Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty has been working with Rechat almost since its beginning, as a first client, test case and collaborator. Now, years of innovation later, Rechat includes a marketing center, people center and deals center, allowing advisors to work within one integrated ecosystem to streamline tasks, automate listing marketing, create high-quality collateral, track transactions and more.          

Says Rechat CEO Shayan Hamidi: “We are dedicated to equipping agents with all of the tools they need — in one single tab or one single app — to excel in today’s competitive market.”          

Peerage Realty Partners is a leading residential real estate services firm, serving luxury markets across North America. Its brokerage partners include top Sotheby’s International Realty affiliates and other renowned independent firms. It has more than 6,100 advisors across 206 offices in the U.S. and Canada, to whose brokerages it provides strategic input, technology, marketing, operational expertise and much more. Its primary goal is to continually enhance the client, advisor and brokerage experiences through every phase of a transaction and beyond. Peerage Realty is projected to transact about $34.8 billion in sales in 2024 through its partner firms. Peerage Realty Partners, based in Toronto, Canada, has the unique benefit of being a privately owned enterprise, committed to long-term partnerships and investments.  

Says Gavin Swartzman, CEO of Peerage Realty Partners: “We are delighted to partner with Rechat to enhance our technological capabilities and provide our advisors with industry-leading tools. This collaboration aligns seamlessly with our ongoing commitment to leveraging innovation to better serve our clients and propel growth across our network.”    

To learn more, visit briggsfreeman.com, rechat.com and peeragerealty.com.

Peerage Realty Partners — the parent company of Dallas-based Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty and the world’s largest strategic investor in Sotheby’s International Realty affiliates — and Dallas-based Rechat, the creator of real estate’s only AI-powered Experience Management Platform for agents, have just advanced the real estate industry via state-of-the-art technology. With the partnership, Rechat is now offering its advanced suite of tools and services to all Peerage Realty Partners brokerages — 206 offices across the U.S. and Canada — equipping its advisors with valuable advancements in real estate tech. Rechat has eliminated the need for agents to toggle between disparate platforms to manage the various aspects of their business. After years of collaboration with Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty, Rechat now includes a marketing center, people center and deals center, allowing advisors to streamline tasks, automate listing marketing, create collateral, track transactions and more.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-game-changer-new-partnership-between-real-estate-tech-innovator-and-luxury-brokerage-investor-just-gave-agents-at-select-firms-valuable-advantages-and-ease-302306550.html

SOURCE Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty

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