LDHG, Inc. Acquires Assets of XND Technologies, Inc. and Announces New Corporate Structure and
Direction
ORANGE, Calif., Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ Liberty Diversified Holdings, Inc. (Pink Sheets: LDHG) announced yesterday that it has acquired 100% of the assets of XND Technologies, Inc. (XND), an Arizona corporation, including all of its proprietary formulations, patents and trademarks, and its existing production and distribution systems. XND has been working to produce and distribute a line of nutrient-enhanced bottled water products that contain no calories, no carbohydrates, no colors and most importantly, no flavors other than pure water, and does this using a process that is more efficient and less costly than others currently in use. This concept is unique because no other producer adds organic nutrients without also adding masking flavors, colors or sweeteners. Now that these agreements are finalized, Liberty will immediately redirect its entire efforts to the premium bottled water industry and bringing to market a full line of nutrient-enhanced water products to compete with currently available products such as VitaminWater and SmartWater. Initial products are expected to include those enhanced to provide vitamin support for general health, a diet formulation for weight watchers, an immune booster, an energy and fitness drink, and others. Liberty is also in the final stages of negotiations for the acquisition of assets for a second water company, and a further announcement regarding that transaction is expected very soon.
Liberty acquired the assets of XND in exchange for stock and no cash was involved in the acquisition. As a result of the transaction, controlling interest in Liberty has been passed to the stockholders of XND. Liberty will immediately apply for a name change to reflect its new direction in the bottled water business and Liberty's current officers and board will remain in place until the name change is complete and no later than December 31, 2007. Once the new name is in effect, Mr. Steve Nickolas, the current CEO and President of XND, will be appointed President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Company, and a new Board of Directors will be established. At that time, Mr. Ron Touchard and Dr. Michael Brown, Liberty's current CEO and President, respectively, will step down from their positions as officers and directors of the Company but will remain with the Company in other positions to be announced later.
Incoming Chairman, President and CEO Steve Nickolas is a 30-year veteran of the beverage and bottled water industry who has worked as a beverage consultant and in a variety of management positions, including assignments at Anheuser-Busch, Nestles, Whitlock Packaging, Proctor & Gamble and Suntory. Mr. Nickolas opened the first bottled water company in Hawaii in 1980 and by 1990 had developed water companies around the world including Micronesia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Israel, Germany and several in the U.S. He later founded Apani Bottled Water Co., a new bottled water concept using small packaging PET bottles, which he grew to over $35 million in annual sales. He is also the Founder and President/CEO of XND Technologies, Inc. Mr. Nickolas has a B.S. degree in Political Science and Economics from the Claremont Colleges and has completed postgraduate work at Claremont Graduate School and Cal Poly Pomona in Government and Psychology.
Commentary
In response to this announcement, Ronald C. Touchard, Chairman and CEO of Liberty Diversified Holdings, Inc., commented, 'We are very pleased to announce to acquisition of the assets of XND Technologies, Inc. The structure of these acquisitions will integrate the assets of Liberty and XND into a single company, which we feel is a much better situation for us on the market place, and our new name and change of management signals our full commitment to our new corporate direction. We are also pleased to introduce our incoming Chairman and President/CEO, Mr. Steve Nickolas, who we believe has the ideal expertise and experience to lead the company to success as we become a major player in the premium bottled water industry. We are now moving ahead full steam to secure the necessary funding to scale up operations and we are more excited than we have ever been about both the near and long-term future of our company.'
Mr. Nickolas added, 'This is a very exciting day for us. We have worked very hard at XND to develop an outstanding line of products and to position ourselves for rapid entry and expansion in large and fast-growing industry. The acquisitions of these companies' assets by Liberty Diversified Holdings, Inc. provide us with the best of all possible worlds. Our current management team will remain in place to see this vision through to completion, while Liberty's access to capital markets will allow us to move forward much more quickly than otherwise possible. Now that this integration is complete, we look forward to making many additional announcements in the very near future.'
