CNN reports via PR Newswire that Global Digital Solutions has filed a Form 8-K and announced an Unsolicited Letter of Intent to Acquire Remington Outdoor Company (aka Freedom Group) for $1.082 Billion.
Richard J. Sullivan, GDSI’s Chairman and CEO, commented on this move as well as two additional acquisitions.
“The GDSI team is extremely excited and confident about all three of these proposed acquisitions. There are powerful synergies between Freedom and the two other companies that will fuel our future growth along with the transformation of the cyber arms industry. Cyber-based technologies, coupled with enhanced digital product development and distribution, will be key factors in achieving results that could match – and probably even exceed – what we were able to produce at Digital Angel Corp and Applied Digital Solutions (“Applied”). At Applied, we saw our market capitalization reach $2.5 billion, roughly five times revenue and nearly 25 times EBITDA.”
GDSI is an interesting company to say the least, specializing in “cyber arms” and tracking. For instance, they patented the first-ever FDA-approved, human-implantable RFID tags that continue to be used by several foreign militaries as well as an implantable GPS tracking system for sheep and Gatekeeper, a small arms safety system. It offers, “Encrypted, password-protected, digital, trigger-locking capability;Secure, real-time online tracking; and Encrypted, cloud-enabled databases.” Are you rolling your eyes as much as I am yet?
CEO Sullivan discusses Gatekeeper in this quote:
“Our team plans to drive unprecedented consolidation and convergence in the cyber arms arena at least in part through the acquisition strategy outlined in our Form 8-K filing and elsewhere. We’ll also do this by leveraging technologies like GDSI Gatekeeper, which we announced on January 23, 2014. Gatekeeper represents a revolutionary suite of technology-enhanced services that offer personalized, digital small arms safety and security solutions in commercial and military-related markets.
I can already see the headlines on the tinfoil hat sites.
