A-Mark Precious Metals Acquires Minority Interest in Sunshine Minting

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. and COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho, Dec. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRK), a leading full-service provider of products and services to the global precious metals market, today announced that it recently acquired a 31.1% interest in Sunshine Minting, Inc. (SMI), a leading manufacturer of precious metals mint products and a long-standing supplier and counterparty of A-Mark.
Through its three state-of-the-art minting facilities around the world, SMI is the industry leader for the supply of high-quality blanks, coins and medallions, as well as a wide array of custom minted products possessing various finishes for some of the largest sovereign governments, major marketing companies, financial institutions, corporations, and private groups globally.“We’re excited to expand on our long-standing relationship with a meaningful acquisition stake in SMI,” said A-Mark CEO Greg Roberts. “For over 30 years, there has been a strong business relationship between A-Mark and SMI, and this arrangement will provide us with the resources to continue to execute on our longer-term growth plans and maximize a number of identified synergies. I have admired the business acumen of Tom Power, President & CEO of SMI, for many years, and I have complete confidence in his and his team’s ability to take SMI to the next level of growth.”Tom Power added: “Over the past few years, I have had numerous discussions with various entities that approached SMI to become a minority equity partner. The company’s key requirement was to bring in the right partner with the right values that will support our growth trajectory in the global marketplace. A-Mark Precious Metals is the perfect partner for us. In addition to our over three decades of trade affiliation, since 2012, A-Mark has been our exclusive distributor of our SMI Branded bullion products containing our exclusive MintMark SI™ Anti-Counterfeit technology. This arrangement has grown our SMI bullion to be one of the most sought-after private brands in the world. We are pleased to announce we have added Greg Roberts, to our Board of Directors. We are looking forward to this next chapter of growth and development of the SMI brand utilizing the mutual benefit this new investment brings with it.”About Sunshine Minting
Sunshine Minting Inc., (SMI) was established in 1979 and Tom and Patricia Power acquired 100% of the operations in 2007. The company is a leading domestic and global supplier of precious metal mint products with manufacturing facilities in Nevada, Idaho, as well as a joint venture in Shanghai, China. SMI’s primary customers are sovereign governments, financial institutions, corporations, major marketing companies, other businesses, and private groups. The company’s commitment to excellence in customer service is evident in all facets of their business, as demonstrated by its Quality Management Systems ISO 9001:2015 certification. SMI’s success is based on customer trust and respect, backed by its highly trained staff and utilization of the most modern melting, casting, rolling, and minting equipment available. Its dedication to continuous improvements is what enables SMI to meet the exacting requirements of their customers now, and in the future. For more information, visit www.sunshinemint.com.About A-Mark Precious Metals
Founded in 1965, A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRK) is a leading full-service precious metals trading company and wholesaler of gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion and related products. The company’s global customer base includes sovereign and private mints, manufacturers and fabricators, refiners, dealers, financial institutions, industrial users, investors, collectors, and e-commerce and other retail customers. The company conducts its operations through three complementary segments: Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services, Secured Lending, and Direct Sales.A-Mark operates several business units in its Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment, including Industrial, Coin and Bar, Trading and Finance, Storage, Logistics, and the Mint (as more fully described below). Its Industrial unit services manufacturers and fabricators of products utilizing precious metals, while its Coin and Bar unit deals in over 200 different products for distribution to dealers and other qualified purchasers. As a U.S. Mint-authorized purchaser of gold, silver and platinum coins, A-Mark purchases bullion products directly from the U.S. Mint for sale to customers. A-Mark also has distributorships with other sovereign mints, including Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Through its Transcontinental Depository Services subsidiary, A-Mark provides customers with a variety of managed storage options for precious metals worldwide. Through its A-M Global Logistics subsidiary, A-Mark provides customers an array of complementary services, including receiving, handling, inventorying, processing, packaging and shipping of precious metals and custom coins on a secure basis. A-Mark also holds a majority stake in a joint venture that owns the minting operations known as SilverTowne Mint (Mint), which designs and produces minted silver products which provide greater product selection to customers, price stability within the supply chain as well as more secured access to silver during volatile market environments.The company operates its Secured Lending segment through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Collateral Finance Corporation (CFC) and AM Capital Funding, LLC (AMCF). Founded in 2005, CFC is a licensed finance lender that originates and acquires loans secured by bullion and numismatic coins. Its customers include coin and precious metal dealers, investors, and collectors.  AMCF was formed in 2018 for the purpose of securitizing eligible secured loans of CFC. A-Mark operates its Direct Sales segment primarily through its wholly owned subsidiary Goldline Inc. (Goldline), a direct retailer of precious metals for the investor community. Goldline markets A-Mark’s precious metal products through various channels, including radio, television, and the Internet.A-Mark is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with offices and facilities in Los Angeles, California, Vienna, Austria, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Winchester, Indiana. For more information, visit www.amark.com.Important Cautions Regarding Forward–Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that relate to future plans, objectives, expectations, performance, events and the like are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Future events, risks and uncertainties, individually or in the aggregate, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the following: the failure to execute our growth strategy as planned; greater than anticipated costs incurred to execute this strategy; changes in the current international political climate which has favorably contributed to demand and volatility in the precious metals markets; increased competition for our higher margin services, which could depress pricing; the failure of our business model to respond to changes in the market environment as anticipated; general risks of doing business in the commodity markets; and other business, economic, financial and governmental risks as described in in the company’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The words “should,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “foresee,” “plan” and similar expressions and variations thereof identify certain of such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they were made. Additionally, any statements related to future improved performance and estimates of revenues and earnings per share are forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.Company Contact:                                                
Thor Gjerdrum, President                                        
A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc.                                        
1-310-587-1414                                                        
thor@amark.com                                                
                                                                
Investor Relations Contact :                                        
Matt Glover                                                        
Gateway Investor Relations
1-949-574-3860
AMRK@gatewayIR.com        SMI Strategic Consultant Contact:
Rudy R. Miller, President & CEO
The Miller Group
(602) 255-0505
rrmiller@themillergroup.net
www.themillergroup.net