Ascend Acquisition Corp. Provides Merger Partner's Estimates for Key 2007 Financial Results
February 15 2008 - 8:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
WAYNE, Pa. and AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 15 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Ascend Acquisition Corp. ("Ascend") (OTC Bulletin Board: ASAQ;
ASAQU; ASAQW), a special purpose acquisition company, today
provided estimates of key financial results from its merger
partner, e.PAK Resources (S) Pte. Ltd. ("ePAK"), for the fourth
quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2007. These estimates
are based on ePAK's unaudited financial statements for these
periods and are subject to modification in connection with the
completion of ePAK's audit for 2007. Fourth Quarter 2007 Estimates
Based on ePAK's unaudited financial statements, ePAK's net sales
for the three months ended December 31, 2007 were approximately
$13.9 million, an increase of 38% from net sales of approximately
$10.1 million for the same period in 2006. This growth was
primarily driven by sales of wafer shippers, wafer transport media
and data storage devices to new customers and an increase in sales
to existing customers. Sales of IC handling products also increased
during the quarter. Based on ePAK's unaudited financial statements,
gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2007 was approximately $5.1
million, an increase of 41.7% from gross profit of approximately
$3.6 million for the same period in 2006. Gross margin was
approximately 36.8%, or 0.9% higher than the gross margin of 35.9%
for the same quarter of 2006. The improvement in gross margin was
due to the increased contribution of higher margin wafer products
to the product sales mix, which was partially offset by higher
outsourcing costs resulting from the full capacity status of ePAK's
manufacturing facilities. Full Year 2007 Estimates Based on ePAK's
unaudited financial statements, ePAK's net sales for the year ended
December 31, 2007 were approximately $46.7 million, up 29.1% from
approximately $36.1 million in 2006. Gross profit for 2007 was
approximately $16.4 million in 2007, up 25.2% from approximately
$13.1 million in 2006. Gross margin during 2007 was approximately
35.0% compared to approximately 36.1% in 2006. Steve Dezso, ePAK's
president, stated, "ePAK achieved strong growth in revenues and
gross profit in 2007 despite our capacity constraints. Our gross
margin in 2007 was slightly lower than in 2006 due to higher raw
material costs, large scale facilities expansion, and high cost
subcontract manufacturing due to demand outpacing internal
capacity. In the fourth quarter, margins showed improvement as
selling prices were adjusted to compensate for raw material costs.
Further improvements are anticipated as our manufacturing capacity
is expanded to fill available space and the need for high cost
subcontracting will be reduced." Financial Condition Based on
ePAK's unaudited financial statements, at December 31, 2007, ePAK
had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $2.7 million, total
assets of approximately $41.7 million, short-term bank borrowings
of approximately $7.3 million and long-term debt, including the
current portion, of approximately $1.5 million. ePAK's unaudited
financial statements reflect that during 2007 ePAK generated
approximately $14.9 million of cash flow from operations, up from
approximately $12.4 million in 2006. ePAK's cash flow from
operations remained strong, despite the need to increase
inventories in order to support its rapid revenue growth. In 2007,
ePAK had capital expenditures of approximately $5.6 million, which
was used to triple its manufacturing space to 600,000 square feet
and install new equipment. Outlook "In 2008, we expect to see
continued revenue growth across all product lines and regions from
both new and existing customers. Our high-margin wafer business
will be the main driver behind our anticipated growth, and we will
continue to develop new products and work closely with our
customers to engineer, design and deliver solutions that meet their
mission critical needs," commented Mr. Dezso. Mr. Rice stated,
"Following the completion of the merger, ePAK will have about $35
million in cash, providing management with the resources it needs
to expand its business to meet existing demand and pursue strategic
acquisitions. We are confident that our stockholders will agree
that ePAK is an exciting, high growth company with an excellent
future." Additional Information In July 2007, Ascend entered into a
definitive agreement to acquire ePAK. Under the terms of the
agreement, as amended, at the closing of the transaction, our
public company will become a Bermuda public company and acquire
100% of the outstanding capital stock of ePAK. Upon completion of
the transaction, which is expected in the second quarter of 2008,
the resulting public company will be named ePAK International Ltd.
It is expected that ePAK International's common stock and warrants
will trade on the NASDAQ Global Market. A registration statement
and proxy statement under Form S-4 has been filed under the issuer
name "EPAK INTERNATIONAL LIMITED" with the Securities and Exchange
Commission in connection with the proposed acquisition of ePAK and
redomestication of the public company to Bermuda. STOCKHOLDERS OF
ASCEND AND OTHER INTERESTED PERSONS ARE ADVISED TO READ, WHEN
AVAILABLE, THE FINAL PROSPECTUS AND DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT IN
CONNECTION WITH THE TRANSACTIONS AND THE SOLICIATION OF PROXIES FOR
THE SPECIAL MEETING OF ASCEND'S STOCKHOLDERS BECAUSE THEY WILL
CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Once ePAK's audit for fiscal 2007 is
completed, audited financial statements for such year will be filed
as part of ePAK International Limited's registration and proxy
statement under Form S-4. This audit is expected to be completed by
the end of March 2008. The final prospectus and definitive proxy
statement will be mailed to Ascend's stockholders as of a record
date to be established for voting on the merger and
redomestication. These documents also will be available without
charge online at the Securities and Exchange Commission's Internet
site (http://www.sec.gov/) and by mail through requests to Ascend
Acquisition Corp., 435 Devon Park Drive, Bldg. 400 Wayne, PA 19087,
Attention: T. Anderson. Stockholders and other interested persons
can also read Ascend's final prospectus, dated May 11, 2006, for a
description of the security holdings of Ascend's directors and
officers and of EarlyBirdCapital, Inc., the underwriters of
Ascend's initial public offering, and their respective interests in
the successful consummation of the proposed transactions. About
e.PAK Resources (S) Pte. Ltd. ePAK is a full-service designer,
manufacturer and supplier of precision engineered products and
solutions for the automated transport and handling of semiconductor
and electronic devices. ePAK's product areas include front-end
wafer handling, back-end IC transport, and end-system sub-assembly
handling. The Company's products are sold globally to top tier
global customers including semiconductor companies, system OEMs,
and IC assembly and test operations. The company's low cost,
large-scale manufacturing operations in Shenzhen, the People's
Republic of China ("PRC") are centrally located to the
semiconductor industry. ePAK's executive offices are located in
Austin, Texas and the Company maintains nine sales and applications
engineering offices worldwide. About Ascend Acquisition Corporation
Ascend Acquisition Corp. was formed on December 5, 2005 for the
purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset
acquisition or other similar business combination with an operating
business. Ascend's registration statement for its initial public
offering was declared effective on May 11, 2006 and the offering
closed on May 22, 2006, generating net proceeds of approximately
$38.5 million from the sale of 6.9 million units, including the
full exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option and the
sale of 166,667 units to the Ascend's Chairman and CEO, Don K.
Rice. Each unit was comprised of one share of Ascend common stock
and two warrants, each with an exercise price of $5.00. As of
January 31, 2008, Ascend held approximately $40.8 million in a
trust account maintained by an independent trustee, which will be
released to Ascend upon the consummation of the business
combination. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about Ascend, ePAK and
their combined business after completion of the proposed business
combination. These forward-looking statements are based on current
expectations and projections about future events. These
forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause actual
results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be
materially different from any future results, levels of activity,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify
forward-looking statements by terminology such as "projected,"
"may," "will," "should," "could," "would," "expect," "plan,"
"anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "continue," or the negative of
such terms or other similar expressions. Factors that might cause
or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to
changes to ePAK's preliminary unaudited financial results reported
in this press release following the completion of the audit, ePAK's
ability to grow future revenues and earnings, changes in demand for
ePAK's products, market acceptance of the ePAK's products, changes
in the laws of the People's Republic of China that affect ePAK's
operations, and other factors that may be detailed from time to
time in Ascend's filings with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. For more
information, please contact: Ascend Acquisition Corporation Don K.
Rice, Chairman and CEO Tel: +1-610-519-1336 Email: Web:
http://www.ascendgrowth.com/ ePAK International Inc. Steve Dezso,
CEO Tel: +1-512-231-8083 Email: Web: http://www.epak.com/ Investor
Relations: CCG Investor Relations Crocker Coulson, President Tel:
+1-646-213-1915 Email: Web: http://www.ccgir.com/ DATASOURCE:
Ascend Acquisition Corp. CONTACT: Don K. Rice of Ascend Acquisition
Corporation, +1-610-519-1336, or ; or Steve Dezso of ePAK
International Inc., +1-512- 231-8083, or ; or Crocker Coulson of
CCG Investor Relations for Ascend Acquisition Corp.,
+1-646-213-1915, or Web site: http://www.ascendgrowth.com/
http://www.epak.com/ http://www.ccgir.com/
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