U.S. Dry Cleaning Corporation (OTCBB: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.
Robbie 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, three 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 U.S. 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’s mission is to create the premier national chain in the dry cleaning industry. The Company’s management team has extensive experience in retail consolidations and premier dry cleaning operations with a proven operating model. Management intends to rapidly acquire profitable, market-leading operations at accretive valuations. Each acquisition target is expected to be self-sufficient, and field management remains in place to ease the assimilation.
U.S. Dry Cleaning management believes the greatest value achieved in any consolidation is during the earliest phases. As a result, the company intends to grow as rapidly as possible to maximize shareholder value.
This release is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a solicitation to invest. U.S. Dry Cleaning’s future operation results are dependent upon many factors, including but not limited to (i) the company’s ability to obtain sufficient capital or a strategic business arrangement to fund its expansion plans (ii) the company’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 the company’s control; and (iv) other risk factors discussed in the company’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available for review at http://www.sec.gov under “Search for Company Filings.”
Contacts:
Rick Johnston
Director of
Shareholder Communications
760-668-1274
rick@usdrycleaning.com
www.usdrycleaning.com
