The Experiential Agency Signs Letter of Intent to Acquire Alice's Garden, a Chicago Floral and Event Decor Firm
22 July 2004 - 9:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
The Experiential Agency Signs Letter of Intent to Acquire Alice's
Garden, a Chicago Floral and Event Decor Firm XA to Open Floral and
Decor Design Centers in Chicago and New York CHICAGO, July 22
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Experiential Agency, Inc. ("XA") (OTC
BB: EXAG), a major national event marketing firm that serves many
Fortune 500 companies, reported that it has signed a letter of
intent to acquire Alice's Garden, one of Chicago's most prestigious
providers of floral and event decor. The acquisition, which is
expected to close in mid-August, is immediately accretive to
earnings. In business more than 13 years, Alice's Garden is an
award-winning Chicago retail florist as well as a provider of
floral and event decor. Alice's Garden has provided floral
arrangements and decor for the Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton and
Peninsula Hotels as well as visual display services for such
distinguished retail stores as Van Cleef & Arpels and Lalique.
Jointly, XA and Alice's Garden produced the decor for clients such
as The NBA, Six Continents Hotels, W Hotels, AstraZeneca, ABN AMRO
and McDonalds Corporation. Darren Andereck will lead a team of
eight floral and decor experts that will also be joining XA
subsequent to the closing of the acquisition. Coinciding with the
addition of the retail floral business, XA announced that it plans
to open a state-of-the-art Design Center in Chicago. The center
will house the retail store featuring a wide assortment of premium
floral and display items as well as a facility to showcase XA's
design and fabrication capabilities to clients in an exciting
environment. The center will further enable XA's ability to
fabricate decor and environmental design elements for its
prestigious roster of corporate clients and highly visible brands.
The Design Center is expected to open in September. Chairman and
CEO Frank Goldstin of XA said, "With Alice's Garden, XA expects to
add more than $1 million in revenue in the next 18 months. In
addition to acquiring a successful retail business, XA will, most
importantly, gain the capability of producing event decor and
design elements that we have had to outsource in the past, making
each event more profitable. In fact, XA will be the only national
event-marketing firm with this strategic, in-house capability." In
addition, Goldstin said XA plans to open a flagship Design Center
in New York within the course of the next year to complement its
already strong New York event marketing presence. Darren Andereck,
who recently joined XA as executive vice president and creative
director, said, "I am excited about working directly with XA's
great management team and its high-profile clients. By combining
talents and expertise, we have the capability to create and
showcase cutting edge environments in both our design center and
retail store. Everyday we will put our creativity on display." The
event marketing industry generates nearly $80 billion a year in
direct spending, according to a study by Deloitte & Touche LLP.
Moreover, corporate spending on event marketing has been growing;
it rose 15% in 2003 and it is predicted to generate an additional
15%-to-20% growth in 2004. (Source: PROMO Magazine) About The
Experiential Agency, Inc. The Experiential Agency (XA) has full
service offices in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles from which it
provides corporations and highly visible brands with comprehensive
event marketing, design and production services. Since 1989,
Chairman and CEO Frank Goldstin and his team have been the creative
force behind prestigious, national projects for such clients as The
NBA, McDonald's, Song Airlines, Eurex, Olympus, Salvatore
Ferragamo, Vogue, W Hotels, ABN AMRO and Emirates Airline. In 2003,
Special Events magazine ranked XA as one of the "Top 50 Powerhouse
Event Companies in the World." This press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, when used
in the preceding discussion, the words "believes," "expects,"
"intends," "will," "anticipated," or "may," and similar conditional
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the Act and are subject to the safe harbor
created by the Act. Except for historical information, all of the
statements, expectations and assumptions contained in the foregoing
are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. It is possible that the assumptions made by
management are not necessarily the most likely and may not
materialize. In addition, other important factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially include the following: business
conditions and the amount of growth in the company's industry and
general economy; competitive factors; ability to attract and retain
personnel; the price of the Company's stock; and the risk factors
set forth from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including
but not limited to its annual report on Form 10-KSB; its quarterly
reports on Forms 10-QSB; and any reports on Form 8-K. The
Experiential Agency, Inc. (OTC BB: EXAG) takes no obligation to
update or correct forward-looking statements and also takes no
obligation to update or correct information prepared by third
parties that is not paid for by the Company. For more information,
please contact: Company Investor Relations Media Relations Lara
Shipp Truc N. Nguyen Stan Froelich XA Stern & Co. Stern &
Co. 312-397-9100 ext. 2399 VP, Investor Relations VP, Media
Relations 212-888-0044 212-888-0044 DATASOURCE: The Experiential
Agency, Inc. CONTACT: Company, Lara Shipp of XA, +1-312-397-9100
ext. 2399, ; Investor Relations, Truc N. Nguyen, VP, Investor
Relations, , or Media Relations, Stan Froelich, VP, Media
Relations, , both of Stern & Co., +1-212-888-0044 Web site:
http://www.expagency.com/
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