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Pacific International Enterprises Inc. Acquires the Assets of Wake Tech
1/26/99
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif.--Jan. 26, 1999--Pacific International Enterprises
Inc. (OTC BB:PCIE) and Wake Technology Inc. on Jan. 12, 1999, signed an
acquisition agreement where PCIE acquired the assets of Durham Molding
Corp.'s (DMC) Wake Technology Wakeboards and Rift Snowboards.
This asset acquisition will be operated as a Division of "The France
Group."
The assets acquired include all tooling, dies, molds, inventories of
finished product, product parts and raw materials, bank and cash
balances, intellectual properties including all patents and trade, brand
or business names, product specifications, research & development, all
customer orders on hand and works in process.
Company history: Durham Molding was founded as Wake Technology Inc. in
1992 to design, manufacture and market wakeboards, the first
wakeboard-only manufacturer. The company grew to become one of the
largest manufacturers of wakeboards and bindings in the world. Wake
Tech, always recognized as an industry leader in technology, developed
the first twin tip (symmetrical) wakeboard that revolutionized the
wakeboard industry. The technology allowed a dramatic improvement in
riding capabilities compared with the "mini surfboards with bindings"
that preceeded the twin tip design. Wake Tech builds a complete line of
boards and bindings, including pro models for former world champion Scott
Byerly.
Wake Tech (DMC) also manufactures high performance snowboards under the
brand name Rift and a line of unique compression molded skateboard decks
that are significantly lighter and stronger than traditional decks. The
products were sold through approximately 300 specialty retail sporting
goods dealers and chains and in 30 foreign countries through 25
distributors.
Jim Fraser, general manager of The France Group, will be responsible for
all the divisional operations and the overall marketing of Wake Tech and
Rift product brand names and original equipment manufacturing (OEM)
business.
Binks Graval, chairman and chief executive officer of PCIE, stated,
"Wake Tech is a dominant player in the rapidly growing wakeboard market.
They are the No. 1 selling brand in Japan and the No. 3 selling brand in
the U.S.
"Now we have offsetting seasonal product lines to manufacture for OEM
customers and for our own brands which will allow us to run the factory
year round. Now we can offer more full time employment, more job security
and more overall stability to our employees and the local economy.
"In the long run, our customers will also benefit from the overall
stabilization of experienced management and production personnel. Before
the acquisition, France Sports had 14 presses to manufacture its boards.
With Wake Tech and its pooled resources, we now have 21 presses that will
dramatically increase our daily production capacity. We have close to $1
million in wakeboard orders to fill immediately and we are already taking
order to build snowboards and it's only our second day on the job."
The France Group, a division of Pacific International Enterprises,
develops and manufactures sports-related products for rapidly growing
markets, including snowboarding, wakeboarding, mini-skiing and
skateboarding. The France Group brand names are a leader in their
category by providing superior levels of performance and quality.
For the most recent publicity release, reference Jan. 20, 1999, Pacific
International Enterprises Inc. (OTC BB:PCIE) and France Sports Mfg., on
Jan. 14, 1999, signed an acquisition agreement where PCIE acquired the
assets of France Sports Mfg. LLC and the assets of Twenty/Four Seven LLC.
These asset acquisitions will be operated as "The France Group."
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe
harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements
involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, continued
acceptance of the company's products, increased levels of competition for
the company, and dependence on third party suppliers.
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