NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Barkbox, Inc.
("BARK" or the "Company"), the leading global brand for dogs, and
Northern Star Acquisition Corp. ("Northern Star") (NYSE: STIC), a
publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, today
announced that the two companies will participate in a webinar
hosted by SPACInsider on Wednesday, February
3, 2021 at 2:00pm ET to
discuss BARK's and Northern Star's proposed merger.
The webinar for this event can be accessed at:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/1516113471818/WN_r7GZ82COTp-NADVLhxdVMw.
Participants in the webinar will include:
- Matthew Meeker, Co-Founder and
Executive Chairman of BARK
- Henrik Werdelin, Co-Founder of
BARK
- Manish Joneja, Chief Executive
Officer of BARK
- John Toth, Chief Financial
Officer of BARK
- Joanna Coles, Chairwoman and
Chief Executive Officer of Northern Star
BARK is a vertically-integrated, data-driven, omnichannel brand
serving personalized products to over 1 million dogs monthly across
the four key categories of Play, Food, Health, and Home. BARK's
dog-obsessed team applies its unique data and understanding of what
makes each dog special to design playstyle-specific toys, delicious
and satisfying treats, personalized meal delivery and wellness
supplements, and best in class offerings that foster the health and
happiness of dogs. Since BARK was founded in 2012, the company has
continued to grow its subscriber base and has delivered BARK
products to more than 6.5 million dog parents. BARK's
products and custom collections are available via online
marketplaces and brick and mortar retail partners, including Target
and Amazon, and individually on its website BarkShop.com.
On December 17, 2020, BARK and
Northern Star entered into a definitive merger agreement. Upon
closing of the transaction, which is expected to be completed early
in the second quarter of 2021, the combined company intends to
trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol,
"BARK", with an anticipated implied enterprise value of
approximately $1.6 billion. The
combined company expects to receive up to $454 million of gross cash proceeds at closing,
including an upsized, fully-committed $200
million private placement of common stock at $10.00 per share led by top-tier institutional
investors.
About BARK
BARK is the world's most dog-centric company, devoted to making
dogs happy with the best products, services and content. BARK's
dog-obsessed team applies its unique, data-driven understanding of
what makes each dog special to design playstyle-specific toys,
wildly satisfying treats and wellness supplements, and dog-first
experiences that foster the health and happiness of dogs
everywhere. Founded in 2012, BARK loyally serves dogs nationwide
with monthly subscription
services, BarkBox and Super Chewer; a curated
e-commerce experience on BarkShop.com; custom collections via
its retail partner network,
including Target and Amazon; wellness products that
meet your dogs' needs with BARK Bright; and a personalized
meal delivery service for dogs BARK Eats. At BARK, we want to
be the people our dogs think we are and promise to be their voice
until every dog reaches its full tail-wagging potential. Sniff
around at bark.co for more information.
About Northern Star Acquisition Corp.
Northern Star Acquisition Corp. is a special purpose acquisition
company whose management team and Board of Directors are composed
of veteran consumer, media, technology, retail and finance industry
executives and founders, including Joanna
Coles, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer, and
Jonathan Ledecky, President and
Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Coles is a creative media and
technology executive who in her previous roles as editor of two
leading magazines and Chief Content Officer of Hearst Magazines
developed an extensive network of relationships at the intersection
of technology, fashion and beauty. Ms. Coles currently serves as a
special advisor to Cornell Capital, a $7
billion private investment firm, and is on the board at Snap
Inc., Sonos, Density Software, and Women Entrepreneurs of
New York City. Mr. Ledecky is a
seasoned businessman with over 35 years of investment and
operational experience. He has executed hundreds of acquisitions
across multiple industries and raised over $20 billion in debt and equity. He is also
co-owner of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders
franchise. For additional information, please visit
https://northernstaric.com.
Important Information and Where to Find It
This communication is being made in respect of the proposed
merger transaction involving Northern Star and BARK. Northern Star
intends to file a registration statement on Form S-4 with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which will include
a proxy statement/prospectus of Northern Star, and certain related
documents, to be used at the meeting of shareholders to approve the
proposed business combination and related matters. Investors and
security holders of Northern Star are urged to read the proxy
statement/prospectus, and any amendments thereto and other relevant
documents that will be filed with the SEC, carefully and in their
entirety when they become available because they will contain
important information about BARK, Northern Star and the business
combination. The definitive proxy statement will be mailed to
shareholders of Northern Star as of a record date to be established
for voting on the proposed business combination. Investors and
security holders will also be able to obtain copies of the
registration statement and other documents containing important
information about each of the companies once such documents are
filed with the SEC, without charge, at the SEC's web site at
www.sec.gov.
The information contained on, or that may be accessed through,
the websites referenced in this press release is not incorporated
by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release.
Participants in the Solicitation
Northern Star, BARK and certain of their respective directors
and executive officers may be deemed participants in the
solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of Northern Star in
favor of the approval of the business combination and related
matters. Shareholders may obtain more detailed information
regarding the names, affiliations and interests of certain of
Northern Star's executive officers and directors in the
solicitation by reading Northern Star's Final Prospectus dated
November 10, 2020, filed with the SEC
on November 12, 2020, and the proxy
statement and other relevant materials filed with the SEC in
connection with the business combination when they become
available. Information concerning the interests of Northern Star's
participants in the solicitation, which may, in some cases, be
different than those of their stockholders generally, will be set
forth in the proxy statement relating to the business combination
when it becomes available.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of
any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of any securities
in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or
sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under
the securities laws of such other jurisdiction.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements included in this press release are not
historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of
the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements generally are accompanied by words such as "believe,"
"may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend,"
"expect," "should," "would," "plan," "predict," "potential,"
"seem," "seek," "future," "outlook," and similar expressions that
predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not
statements of historical matters, but the absence of these words
does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements regarding estimates and forecasts of other financial and
performance metrics and projections of market opportunity.
These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or
not identified in this press release, and on the current
expectations of BARK's management and are not predictions of actual
performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for
illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and
must not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee, an
assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or
probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or
impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual
events and circumstances are beyond the control of BARK. Some
important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in any forward-looking statements could
include changes in domestic and foreign business, market,
financial, political and legal conditions. These forward-looking
statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties; the
inability of the parties to successfully or timely consummate the
merger, including the risk that any required regulatory approvals
are not obtained, are delayed or are subject to unanticipated
conditions that could adversely affect the combined company or the
expected benefits of the merger is not obtained; failure to realize
the anticipated benefits of the merger; risks relating to the
uncertainty of the projected financial information with respect to
BARK; the risk that spending on pets may not increase at projected
rates; that BARK subscriptions may not increase their spending with
BARK; BARK's ability to continue to convert social media followers
and contacts into customers; BARK's ability to successfully expand
its product lines and channel distribution; competition; the
uncertain effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; and those factors
discussed in documents of Northern Star filed, or to be filed, with
SEC. If any of these risks materialize or our assumptions prove
incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results
implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be
additional risks that neither Northern Star nor BARK presently know
or that Northern Star and BARK currently believe are immaterial
that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained
in the forward-looking statements.
In addition, forward-looking statements reflect Northern Star's
and BARK's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and
views as of the date of this press release. Northern Star and BARK
anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause
Northern Star's and BARK's assessments to change. However, while
Northern Star and BARK may elect to update these forward-looking
statements at some point in the future, Northern Star and BARK
specifically disclaim any obligation to do so. These
forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as
representing Northern Star's and BARK's assessments as of any date
subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue
reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking
statements.
Any financial projections in this communication are
forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions that are
inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies,
many of which are beyond Northern Star's and BARK's control. While
all projections are necessarily speculative, Northern Star and BARK
believe that the preparation of prospective financial information
involves increasingly higher levels of uncertainty the further out
the projection extends from the date of preparation. The
assumptions and estimates underlying the projected results are
inherently uncertain and are subject to a wide variety of
significant business, economic and competitive risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those contained in the projections. The inclusion of
projections in this communication should not be regarded as an
indication that Northern Star and BARK, or their respective
representatives and advisors, considered or consider the
projections to be a reliable prediction of future events.
This communication is not intended to be all-inclusive or to
contain all the information that a person may desire in considering
in an investment in Northern Star and is not intended to form the
basis of an investment decision in Northern Star. All subsequent
written and oral forward-looking statements concerning Northern
Star and BARK, the proposed transactions or other matters and
attributable to Northern Star and BARK or any person acting on
their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the
cautionary statements above.
Contacts
For BARK
Investors:
ICR, Inc.
Jean Fontana
Jean.Fontana@icrinc.com
Media:
Garland Harwood
press@barkbox.com
For Northern Star Acquisition Corp.
Jonathan Gasthalter/Nathaniel Garnick/Sam
Fisher
Gasthalter & Co.
(212) 257-4170
northernstar@gasthalter.com
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SOURCE BARK and Northern Star Acquisition Corp.