MIAMI, Feb. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evercel, Inc. [OTC Pink: EVRC] (the "Company") announces it has reached a settlement with Corona Park, effective December 29, 2022.
As part of the settlement, Evercel repurchased Corona Park's entire 17% ownership of Evercel's common stock. In consideration for its shares, Corona Park received its pro-rata portion of the Company's assets, consisting primarily of cash and illiquid units held by the Company in LLCs through which the Company currently owns its investment in ZAGG and previously owned Current Technologies. Corona Park's outstanding promissory note to the Company was settled, and the Company received certain revised rights under the terms of the LLC through which the ZAGG investment is held. The Company received distributions from such LLCs such that the Company currently holds approximately $46,000,000 of cash on hand. In addition, under the terms of the settlement, the litigation between Corona Park and the Company was dismissed.
Further, as part of the settlement, the Company agreed to distribute at least $1.25 per share to the Company's shareholders from its current cash. The Company intends to make the distribution under a Plan of Liquidation to be approved by the shareholders. Following the distribution, in the future, the Company will return all cash to shareholders following any monetization of ZAGG. The Company will not make any further investments beyond those necessary to manage the remaining cash in the Company until ZAGG is fully monetized and monies distributed to shareholders.
Following the Settlement, the Company has approximately $46,000,000 of cash on hand, plus an illiquid investment with a remaining basis of approximately $29,000,000 in Zigg Holdings LLC, the vehicle through which the Company owns ZAGG. The Company has no debt. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, the Company anticipates distributing approximately $34,000,000 of the $46,000,000 of cash on hand on or around March 31, 2023. The Company will provide additional information on this distribution at a later date. As a result of the settlement, the Company's shares of common stock issued and outstanding decreased from approximately 33,000,000 to approximately 27,000,000.
We want to thank Dan Allen and Corona Park for their hard work and acumen in growing the Company's balance sheet so significantly over the years, taking an initial balance sheet of approximately $18M in 2012 and generating over five times that amount in realized returns, in addition to the currently unrealized returns on the investment in ZAGG. We regret the delay and expense the Company incurred resolving its obligations under its contracts. The Board is grateful for Mr. Allen's service, and appreciative of his integrity, ability, and tenacity in creating such significant value for the Company's shareholders.
Going forward, Corona Park will continue to manage ZAGG, including the Company's indirect minority investment in ZAGG through Zigg Holdings LLC. We are committed to supporting Mr. Allen and his team at Corona Park in managing ZAGG based on his decisions and assessments, which we are hopeful will continue to yield impressive profits to all investors.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning the federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding our plans to pursue trading of our common stock on the OTCQX, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally delivered in the future tense and/or are preceded by words such as "may," "will," "should," "forecast," "projected," "could," "expect," "suggest," "believe," "estimate," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," or similar words, or the negatives of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Evercel cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Contact:
Richard Janney
Chief Financial Officer
rjanney@evercel.com
