Alpine 4 Technologies, Ltd. (ALPP) Enters the Commercial Drone Market With its Acquisition of Impossible Aerospace Corporation
Nov 17, 2020, 09:00 ET
PHOENIX, Nov. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpine 4 Technologies, Ltd., (OTCQB: ALPP) owner of leading small market businesses, announced today that it has entered into a binding merger agreement with Impossible Aerospace Corporation. Impossible Aerospace builds high-performance electric aircraft and drones. Its customers range from the US Airforce to the City of Santa Clara, and other municipalities. Impossible Aerospace is Alpine 4's first acquisition in the UAV space and will serve as a cornerstone to build upon. The shareholders of Impossible Aerospace are primarily a grouping of larger venture capital funds such as; Bessemer Venture Partners, Eclipse Ventures, Airbus Ventures, and its CEO, Spencer Gore. The transaction will be completed in a reverse triangular merger transaction with a newly formed subsidiary of Alpine 4. Upon meeting the final closing conditions, Impossible Aerospace will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Alpine 4. Impossible Aerospace and Alpine 4 expect to have the closing conditions meet by December 10th 2020. Mr. Gore has been retained by the Company to help assist in the knowledge transfer of US-1 Drone and to assist in procuring new US Military Contracts.
Strategic Rationale
Kent Wilson, CEO of Alpine 4, had this to say, "The essence of Alpine 4 is our business model of DSF- Driver, Stabilizer, Facilitator. For the past 4 years, we have been actively acquiring revenue-generating companies that fall into the Stabilizer and Facilitator categories. We purposefully did this to add infrastructure and substance to our corporate holdings. The Driver category is a whole different animal and typically consists of companies that are early revenue but have the potential for explosive growth and opportunity. I recognized early on that Impossible Aerospace (IA) was what I call a unicorn Driver company. They checked off all the boxes; patented or patentable IP, leading-edge but not bleeding edge technology, well-funded development behind its IP, and a market space of $5 billion or larger. Couple that with the fact that Alpine 4's subsidiary, Quality Circuit Assembly, Inc. has been building many of the essential components that go into Impossible Aerospace's revolutionary US-1 drone, furthering our desire to make the acquisition.
Early in the manufacturing relationship with Impossible Aerospace (IA), I expressed my interest in Alpine 4 one day acquiring IA to our sales leadership team at QCA. This year we were able to have a substantive dialogue with Spencer Gore, the CEO of IA, about what a transaction might look like. We both agreed that Alpine 4 and its vast manufacturing resources and commercial connections would make IA a home run in the Alpine 4 umbrella of companies."
Spencer Gore, CEO of Impossible Aerospace commented, "Alpine 4 and Impossible Aerospace are combining with a simple mission: to build the nation's most vertically integrated UAV manufacturer. While most domestic drone makers today rely on a jumbled network of third-party vendors for key components, we envision a single factory that receives raw materials in one door and ships validated aircraft out the other -- enabling better products, faster development cycles, and higher profit margins. Impossible Aerospace's shareholders all believe the long-term growth opportunity of the combined company exceeds that of its parts, and are excited to take this next step on the fulfillment of our mission to build the world's most capable aircraft."
Transaction Highlights
- Mature and Highly Developed Drone Ecosystem: The acquisition of IA will allow Alpine 4 to dominate the emerging drone market with market-leading airframe and battery technology that enables real missions over 70 minutes.
- Multiple Large Market Opportunities: The ancillary markets of EMS Surveillance and Short Haul Delivery that can be supported by IA's drone technology are large and growing.
- Patented IP: The Intellectual Property granted in the purchase of IA by Alpine 4 is supported by two patents pending and five provisional patents.
- Vertical Manufacturing: Having the IA manufacturing process within our subsidiary, Quality Circuit Assembly, Inc., will greatly enhance our ability to push production efficiencies to the front line. The time it takes to go from prototype to production will be cut in half.
Impossible Aerospace: IA builds high-performance electric aircraft that save lives. Founded in 2016 by former Tesla engineer Spencer Gore, the company unveiled its US-1 aircraft in 2018, unique for its long endurance and U.S. origin. The company was formerly backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Eclipse Venture and Airbus Ventures.
Alpine 4: Four principles at the core of our business are Synergy. Innovation. Drive. Excellence. At Alpine 4, we believe synergistic innovation drives excellence. By anchoring these words to our combined experience and capabilities, we can aggressively pursue opportunities within and across vertical markets. We deliver solutions that not only drive industry standards but also increase value for our shareholders.
Contact: Kent B. Wilson, CEO or Ian Kantrowitz, VP of Investor Relations
Forward-Looking Statements: The information disclosed in this press release is made as of the date hereof and reflects Alpine 4 most current assessment of its historical financial performance. Actual financial results filed with the SEC may differ from those contained herein due to timing delays between the date of this release and confirmation of final audit results. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, the risks, uncertainties, including the uncertainties surrounding the current market volatility, and other factors the Company identifies from time to time in its filings with the SEC. Although Alpine 4 believes that the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of those assumptions could prove to be inaccurate and, as a result, the forward-looking statements based on those assumptions also could be incorrect. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as of the date hereof, and Alpine 4 disclaims any intention or obligation to update the forward-looking statements for subsequent events.
SOURCE Alpine 4 Technologies
