U.S. Dry Cleaning Corporation to Enter Knoxville Market with Acquisition of Market Leader Prestige Cleaners
U.S. Dry Cleaning Corporation (UDRY), the first national consolidator of the dry cleaning industry, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Prestige Cleaners, the number one dry cleaning chain in the Tennessee market. The chain, which consists of nine stores and one centralized processing plant, has annual revenue in excess of $7 million. The chain has one of the highest revenues per store in the industry and is a leader in the pick up and delivery business. The acquisition is valued at approximately $7 million and will be a combination of stock, cash and a note.
obbie Lee, CEO of U.S. Dry Cleaning said: “Prestige Cleaners is a well known and respected chain in Tennessee and this acquisition will increase our operating cash flow and bring our annualized revenue run rate to approximately $30 million , five times our run rate last year. I have great respect for Eddie Mannis, who has built a very successful and market-leading business. Mr. Mannis will be instrumental in bringing some of his best practices to our other operations".
Mannis, the founder and owner of Prestige Cleaners commented, “This is a tremendous opportunity for us to have access to the capital markets and continue to grow our business. We had considered a number of options before making the decision to become one of the early participants in the growth of U.S. Dry Cleaning. By joining the US Dry Cleaning family we gain public company expertise, years of experience and the leverage a big company brings. As such, we look forward to a mutually profitable and exciting period ahead".
Upon the completion of acquisition, Mr. Mannis will continue to operate the chain, which will continue to do business under its Prestige brand identity. Recently U.S. Dry Cleaning entered the southeastern U.S. with the acquisition of certain Zoots stores on the East Coast adding over $6 million in revenue to the annual run rate.
About U.S. Dry Cleaning Corporation
U.S. Dry Cleaning Corporation’s mission is to create the premier national chain in the dry cleaning industry. Management has extensive experience in retail consolidations and premier dry cleaning operations with a proven operating model.
The company intends to rapidly acquire profitable, positive cash flow operations at accretive valuations. Each acquisition target is expected to be self-sufficient, and field management is expected to remain in place to ease the assimilation.
.S. Dry Cleaning is focused on acquiring profitable businesses that hold leading share in their markets. U.S. Dry Cleaning’s management believes that the current absence of extensive competition to acquire the larger dominant operators will change as the industry consolidates.
USDC Management believes that the greatest value achieved in any consolidation occurs during the earliest phases and as a result, U.S. Dry Cleaning intends to grow as rapidly as possible to deliver shareholder value.
This release is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a solicitation to invest. U.S. Dry Cleaning Corporation’s future operation results are dependent upon many factors, including but not limited to: (i) U.S. Dry Cleaning’s ability to obtain sufficient capital or a strategic business arrangement to fund its expansion plans; (ii) U.S. Dry Cleaning’s ability to build the management and human resources and infrastructure necessary to support the growth of its business; (iii) competitive factors and developments beyond U.S. Dry Cleaning’s control; and (iv) other risk factors discussed in U.S. Dry Cleaning’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available for review at http://www/sec/gov/ under “Search for Company Filings.”In accordance with a December 5, 2006 agreement, Consulting For Strategic Growth 1, Ltd. ("CFSG1") provides U.S. Dry Cleaning Corporation with consulting, business advisory, investor relations, public relations and corporate development services. CFSG1 receives only restricted stock as compensation from U.S. Dry Cleaning. CFSG1 may also choose to purchase U.S. Dry Cleaning’s common stock and thereafter liquidate those securities at any time it deems appropriate to do so. For more information please visit www.cfsg1.com.
Company Contact:
Rick Johnston, Director of Shareholder Communications
Consulting For Strategic Growth 1
Tel: 760-668-1274
Email:
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Website: www.usdrycleaning.com
Investor Relations:
Stanley Wunderlich, CEO
Tel: 800-625-2236
Fax: 646-205-7771
Email:
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Web site: www.cfsg1.com
