Here are 1-2 brief analogies to describe Heritage Global (HGBL):

• Like a **Sotheby's or Christie's for industrial machinery, real estate, and intellectual property**, primarily from businesses undergoing restructuring or liquidation.
• Think of an **eBay or Amazon, but specialized for businesses looking to liquidate large-scale industrial assets, real estate, or distressed inventory**.

• Industrial Asset & Real Estate Services: Provides advisory, valuation, acquisition, and disposition services for industrial machinery, equipment, entire plants, and commercial/industrial real estate.
• Financial Asset Services: Specializes in the acquisition and disposition of distressed financial assets, including charged-off consumer and commercial loans and other receivables portfolios.

Heritage Global Inc. (NASDAQ: HGBL) is an asset services company specializing in the monetization of intellectual property and tangible assets. The company primarily sells its services to other companies and institutions (B2B) rather than directly to individuals.

Due to the transactional nature of its business—assisting a wide range of organizations with asset dispositions, valuations, and specialty finance—Heritage Global Inc. does not publicly disclose the specific names of its major customer companies in SEC filings or investor materials. Its client base spans from small businesses to large multinational corporations, financial institutions, and government entities, rather than relying on a few dominant customers.

Based on its various business segments, Heritage Global Inc. serves the following primary categories of institutional and corporate customers:

• Industrial and Manufacturing Companies: Businesses that need to liquidate surplus machinery, equipment, industrial real estate, or entire facilities due to restructuring, downsizing, upgrades, or closures.
• Financial Institutions and Lenders: Banks, credit unions, hedge funds, loan servicers, and other financial entities that require assistance with valuing and monetizing distressed debt portfolios, non-performing loans, repossessed assets, or other illiquid financial instruments.
• Companies with Intellectual Property (IP): Businesses, universities, research institutions, and legal firms that seek to value, license, sell, or otherwise monetize their patents, trademarks, copyrights, and other intangible assets.
• Government Entities and Public Institutions: Various governmental bodies and public institutions that may require asset disposition services for surplus property, equipment, or other assets.

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Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer & Director

Ross Dove was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Global Inc. in May 2015. He brings over thirty years of experience in the auction industry, starting his career with a small family-owned auction house founded by his grandfather in 1937, which later became Ross-Dove Company. He helped expand this firm into a global entity known as DoveBid, which was subsequently sold to a third party in 2008. In October 2009, he co-founded Heritage Global Partners, Inc. (HGP) with his brother, Kirk Dove. Ross Dove joined Heritage Global Inc. when HGP was acquired by the company in February 2012. He has also served on the boards of several venture-funded companies.

Brian Cobb, Chief Financial Officer & Principal Accounting Officer

Brian Cobb was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Heritage Global Inc. on May 31, 2022. He joined the company in 2017 as the Director of Financial Reporting. In 2019, he was promoted to Corporate Controller, where he was instrumental in the company's transition from the OTC market to Nasdaq and the execution of its public offering in 2020. Prior to his promotion to CFO, he served as Vice President of Finance, a role he assumed in 2021. Before joining Heritage Global, Mr. Cobb accumulated over 10 years of accounting and managerial experience, primarily at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Nicholas Dove, President, Industrial Assets Division

Nicholas Dove serves as the President of the Industrial Assets Division and is an Executive Management Team Member of Heritage Global Inc.

David Ludwig, President, Financial Assets Division & Director

David Ludwig is the President of the Financial Assets Division and a Director of Heritage Global Inc. Heritage Global Inc. reacquired National Loan Exchange, Inc. (NLEX), a leading broker of charged-off consumer receivables, from David Ludwig, who continues to lead the NLEX revenue stream as its president.

James Edward Sklar, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

James Edward Sklar holds the positions of Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary at Heritage Global Inc.

The key risks to Heritage Global (HGBL) are primarily associated with its business model of acquiring and monetizing industrial and financial assets, as well as its lending activities:

1. Concentration and Default Risk in Specialty Lending: Heritage Global faces significant risk within its specialty lending segment due to a high concentration of investments with a single borrower. A major borrower, representing approximately 66% of the company's total investments in notes receivable, recently defaulted on its loan, leading to concerns about the potential loss of principal and challenging the company's "counter-cyclical" narrative.
2. Inventory Risk and General Credit Risk: As part of its business model, Heritage Global often assumes the general and physical inventory risks associated with purchasing assets for subsequent resale. There is a risk that the company may miscalculate market demand or resale value, leading to assets being sold for less than their original purchase price. The company also faces credit risk when extending financing.
3. Intense Competition in Asset Liquidation: Heritage Global operates in a competitive environment for asset liquidation. Its success depends on its ability to continually secure auction or appraisal contracts and obtain distressed or surplus assets for profitable resale. This competitive landscape poses an ongoing challenge to its business development and profitability.

Industrial Assets

• Auction and Liquidation of Industrial Assets: Heritage Global Partners (HGP) specializes in industrial asset auctions, liquidations, and advisory services globally. The broader IT asset disposition (ITAD) market, which involves the disposal of IT assets, was valued at USD 25.31 billion globally in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 54.54 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 14.0% from 2025 to 2030. North America's IT asset disposition market held a share of nearly 16.0% in 2024, and the U.S. market specifically is expected to grow at an 11.4% CAGR from 2025 to 2030. Another report estimates the global IT Asset Disposition Market at USD 18.02 billion in 2024, expected to reach USD 34.31 billion by 2033, with North America holding about 35.0% of the market in 2024. The global market for Data Center IT Asset Disposition alone was valued at US$13.7 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach US$19.1 billion by 2030.
• Refurbishment and Resale of Laboratory Equipment: American Laboratory Trading (ALT) focuses on the recovery, refurbishment, and resale of assets in the life sciences industry, particularly specialized laboratory equipment. Specific market size data for the refurbishment and resale of *laboratory equipment* was not readily available in the search results.

Financial Assets

• Brokerage of Charged-off Receivables and Non-Performing Assets (NPAs): National Loan Exchange (NLEX) acts as an advisor for monetizing financial assets, including distressed and non-performing accounts, in the U.S. and Canada. The global market size for the disposal service of Non-Performing Assets (NPA) was estimated at USD 120 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 210 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 6.5%. The global Non-Performing Loan (NPL) Management market size was estimated at USD 109,451.2 million in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 2,167,863.25 million by 2031, with North America (including the U.S. and Canada) being a significant market. The U.S. NPL Management market size was USD 34,542.80 million in 2024.
• Specialty Lending and Structured Finance: Heritage Global Capital (HGC) provides specialty financing solutions for investors acquiring financial portfolios, particularly in charged-off and non-performing asset portfolios. The specialty finance market in the U.S. alone represents a $20 trillion asset opportunity. The broader asset-based finance (ABF) market is expected to grow to $6.9 trillion globally by 2025. The global structured finance market, which includes products like collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and mortgage-backed securities (MBS), is projected to grow from USD 1,026.23 billion in 2024 to USD 1,704.44 billion by 2035, at a CAGR of 4.72% from 2025 to 2035. North America is anticipated to hold the largest market share in structured finance.

Heritage Global (symbol: HGBL) is expected to drive future revenue growth over the next 2-3 years through several key initiatives and market trends:

1. Strategic Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A): Heritage Global is actively pursuing mergers and acquisitions as a strategic driver for growth, specifically targeting acquisitions that can operate independently and scale efficiently. This strategy aims to expand the company's service offerings and geographic footprint.
2. Expansion and Performance of Industrial Assets Division: The Industrial Assets division has demonstrated strong performance, with an increase in operating income. This growth is supported by successful auctions, liquidation opportunities, and an expanding refurbishment and resale segment. The company anticipates further market share gains in this division due to an expected rise in distressed assets from regional banks and ongoing consolidation within the industrial sector.
3. Growth in Specialty Lending and Financial Assets Division: Heritage Global is strategically focused on expanding its Specialty Lending segment and diversifying its portfolio within the financial asset solutions market. The Financial Assets division has shown solid profitability, driven by the proactive addition of new clients. There is an expectation of continued strong performance in client transactions within this segment due to a robust pipeline of opportunities and ongoing client onboarding.
4. Increased Asset Flow in Distressed Markets: The company foresees an increase in the flow of distressed assets from regional banks. Additionally, a continued industry-wide push towards lean manufacturing and anticipated consolidation are expected to generate more asset disposition opportunities, which directly benefits Heritage Global's business model.

Share Repurchases

• Heritage Global's Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase program on July 31, 2025, allowing for the repurchase of up to $7.5 million in common stock over the next three years.
• During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, the company bought back 601,449 shares for approximately $1.1 million.
• The 2022 Repurchase Program, which ended on June 30, 2025, utilized approximately $5.6 million of the authorized $6.0 million to repurchase 2,897,658 common shares in the open market.

Share Issuance

• Heritage Global's net total equity issued/repurchased from 2011 to 2025 includes the sum of all preferred and common equity transactions regarding the company's own stock.

Inbound Investments

• No specific large inbound investments by third-parties such as strategic partners or private equity firms were prominently disclosed within the last 3-5 years in the provided search results. Institutional ownership reports indicate various funds hold shares, which is standard market activity rather than a large strategic inbound investment.

Outbound Investments

• M&A (mergers and acquisitions) remains a critical component of Heritage Global's long-term strategy and capital deployment framework, with the company currently in advanced negotiations for accretive acquisitions to drive growth and enhance shareholder value.
• The company aims to leverage its strong balance sheet and cash position to support future growth through strategic M&A, targeting acquisitions that can operate independently and scale effectively.
• Heritage Global's net acquisitions/divestitures from 2011 to 2025 track the total change in cash resulting from both investments in businesses and sales of businesses or business segments.

Capital Expenditures

• Heritage Global closed on a new headquarters property, which increased property and equipment to $9.49 million and resulted in $4.10 million in non-current mortgage debt as of Q3 2025.
• The company is nearing the completion of a new facility in San Diego, expected to support its next phase of growth.
• In 2024, the company invested in its future by upgrading technology and reinforcing operational strength.