California-based Global Digital Solutions, Inc., Announces $750,000
Bridge Loan To Facilitate Planned Merger With Illinois-based
Airtronic USA, Inc., The Largest Woman-owned Small Arms
Manufacturer In The United States
FOLSOM, Calif., Jan. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Digital
Solutions (PINKSHEETS:GDSI),a company that is positioning
itself as a leader in providing knowledge-based and culturally
attuned social consulting and security-related solutions in
unsettled areas, today announced that it has secured $750,000 to finance a bridge loan that will
facilitate the planned merger with Airtronic USA ("Airtronic").
Because Airtronic is currently a "debtor in possession" under
Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, the $750,000 bridge loan from GDSI to Airtronic was
subject to approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the
Northern District of Illinois.
Approval for the bridge loan was granted on October 18, 2012.
On August 20, 2012, the companies
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 and reorganization plan on October 16, 2012. The agreement, which is
also subject to Bankruptcy Court approval, calls for Airtronic to
continue to operate as a subsidiary of GDSI.
"We're very excited that we have completed this critical phase
of the merger process between GDSI and Airtronic and we're looking
forward to completing the process as quickly as possible," said
GDSI founder and largest shareholder Richard J. Sullivan, who will become chairman
and CEO of GDSI after the acquisition is completed.
"It's important to note," Sullivan added, "that Airtronic
instituted a policy twelve years ago never to sell weapons to the
domestic U.S. commercial and/or retail market. And I applaud
Dr. Kett and her team for having the vision to embrace that
policy. Airtronic only supplies these weapons to the U.S.
military and designated militaries abroad. That's an
important distinction that will continue to be a vital part of
Airtronic's business model going forward."
Airtronic's CEO and President, Dr. Merriellyn Kett, also
commented on the bridge loan: "I'm very pleased that we have
taken this important step in the merger process, which we believe
will be very beneficial to both companies and to our shareholders
and customers."
Once the merger is finalized, Dr. Kett is expected to continue
serving as CEO of Airtronic.
More About Richard J. Sullivan
Dick Sullivan is an
entrepreneurial pioneer. 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 rifle 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 knowledge-based and culturally attuned
societal consulting and security-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. It 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:
W.J. Delgado
916-838-8833
916-535-1713
info@gdsi.co
Richard J. Sullivan
916-535-1713
SOURCE Global Digital Solutions, Inc.