Global Digital Solutions and Planned Merger Partner Airtronic USA
Agree to Details for Amended Bridge Loan Facility Providing An
Additional $550,000 to Enable Airtronic to Complete Previously
Announced Contracts and Purchase Orders of Considerable Value
PALM BEACH, Fla., Aug. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Digital
Solutions (PINKSHEETS:GDSI),a company that is positioning itself as
a leader in providing small arms manufacturing, knowledge-based and
culturally attuned social consulting combined with complementary
security and technology-related solutions in unsettled areas, today
announced an agreement with planned merger partner Airtronic
USA, Inc. ("Airtronic") to an
amended bridge loan facility that will provide an additional
$550,000 to enable Airtronic to
complete previously announced contracts and purchase orders of
considerable value.
On May 30, 2013, GDSI and
Airtronic announced the first in what is expected to be a series of
contracts involving the company's core business products. On
June 24, 2013, the two companies
announced that Airtronic agreed to become an OEM supplier to a
major international defense contractor for the Airtronic family of
M203 grenade launchers and received the first of many expected
orders for M203 grenade launchers.
"We're very excited about the contracts and purchase orders
Airtronic has received recently and we're pleased we have worked
out the details in the amended loan facility so Airtronic can
fulfill these customer orders," said Richard J. Sullivan, who will become Chairman
and CEO of GDSI after the acquisition with Airtronic is
completed. "We're also delighted that we have worked out the
details involving Dr. Merriellyn Kett's five-year,
post-confirmation employment contract and certain intellectual
property matters. These and a few other rather
technical issues required revisions in the loan agreement.
All of these revisions will help ensure the long-term success of
this enterprise. Because of summertime schedules, it has been
difficult to work out certain details as quickly as we anticipated.
We hope the court will agree to these reasonable revisions to
the loan agreement and that we'll be able to move forward with the
confirmation process as expeditiously as possible."
On August 5, 2013, Airtronic filed
a motion with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern
District of Illinois, Eastern
Division, requesting an order to accept revised documents related
to Airtronic's Second Debtor In Possession ("DIP") Loan
Modification and Ratification Agreement.
As announced on July 1, 2013, the
United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of
Illinois, Eastern Division, had
set August 7, 2013, as the
confirmation hearing date for Airtronic's Amended Plan of
Reorganization ("Plan"). It is expected that the court will
also set a new date for the confirmation hearing.
"We're thrilled that we have reached agreement with GDSI on
these issues," said Dr. Merriellyn Kett, Airtronic's President and
CEO who will continue serving as CEO after the merger between GDSI
and Airtronic is finalized. "We're looking forward to completing
the work on these new contracts and purchase orders in the coming
months and to developing an amended plan of reorganization for the
court's consideration."
On or about August 13, 2012, GDSI
and Airtronic announced that they had signed a letter of intent to
enter into good faith discussions involving a potential strategic
combination in which Airtronic would be acquired by GDSI. Having
completed those good faith discussions, the companies signed a
merger agreement on or about October
22, 2012. The companies are working together to file
an Amended Plan of Reorganization ("Plan"). If confirmed, the Plan
will allow Airtronic to emerge from chapter 11 bankruptcy with
adequate working capital.
Founded in 1990, Airtronic is a well-respected, award-winning
manufacturer of critical battlefield weapons. A member of the
National Small Arms Technology Consortium (NSATC) and the largest
woman-owned small arms manufacturing company in the United States, Airtronic has received
commendations from the US Army Tank, Armaments, and Automotive
Command and the Defense Logistics Agency for the quality and
on-time delivery of its products.
More About Richard J. Sullivan
Dick Sullivan is an
entrepreneurial pioneer. In 2001, Sullivan received the prestigious
World Economic Forums Award for Advanced Chip Technology presented
in Davos, Switzerland. He served
as Chairman and CEO of Applied Digital Solutions, where he executed
a technology rollup involving 42 acquisitions that succeeded in
increasing the company's share price from $2.50 to a peak of $18 per share. During Sullivan's decade-long
tenure as Chairman and CEO, Applied Digital was one of the highest
volume traded stocks on NASDAQ. Sullivan also served as Chairman
and CEO of Digital Angel Corporation and led the effort to spin off
VeriChip Corporation. In 1970, he was a founding member of the
management team of Manufacturing Data Systems, Inc., which listed
at $7.50 per share and was sold to
Schlumberger N.V. in 1980 at $65 per
share.
More About Merriellyn Kett, PhD
Airtronic's CEO and President joined the company in 2003 as
a partner and helped to refocus the business on several essential
battlefield weapons, including the M203 40mm Grenade Launcher – one
of the most widely used grenade launchers in the world – the .50
cal. Machine Gun, the MK 19 Grenade Machine Gun, and most recently
the MK 777, a shoulder-fired recoilless weapon that is light,
lethal, and affordable. Dr. Kett received her doctorate in analytic
philosophy from DePaul University in
Chicago, IL, and spent a year
studying at the Sorbonne in Paris,
France. Before joining Airtronic in 2003, she worked in
infrastructure development in China, building a metallurgical coking plant
in Shanxi Province.
About Global Digital Solutions, Inc.
Global Digital Solutions is refocusing its business
strategy on providing small arms manufacturing, knowledge-based and
culturally attuned social consulting combined with complementary
security and technology-related solutions in unsettled areas. For
more information please visit http://www.gdsi.co.
About Airtronic USA,
Inc.
Airtronic is an electro-mechanical engineering design and
manufacturing company. The largest woman-owned small arms
manufacturer in the United States,
Airtronic provides small arms and small arms spare parts to the
U.S. Department of Defense, foreign militaries and the law
enforcement market. The company also manufactures medical,
avionics and telecommunications original equipment. The company's
products include grenade launchers, rocket propelled grenade
launchers, grenade launcher guns, flex machine guns, grenade
machine guns, rifles, and magazines. Founded in 1990, the company
is based in Elk Grove Village,
Illinois. On May 16, 2012, the
voluntary petition of Airtronic, Inc. for liquidation under Chapter
7 was converted to Chapter 11 reorganization. The company had filed
for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on March 13,
2012. For more information, please visit
www.Airtronic.net.
Statements about the company's expectations, including revenue
and earnings and all other statements in this press release, other
than historical facts, are "forward looking" statements and are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to
change at any time. The company's actual results could differ
materially from expected results. In reflecting subsequent events
or circumstances, the company undertakes no obligation to update
forward looking statements.
Contact:
William J. Delgado
916-838-8833
info@gdsi.co
Richard J. Sullivan
561-632-1020
info@gdsi.co
SOURCE Global Digital Solutions, Inc.