Update 9/18/2002:
“New Age” beverage company XStream Beverage Group Inc. (BB:OTC XSBG) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dark Dog (www.darkdog.com), the extreme energy drink. XStream will buy Dark Dog for $34 million in a combination of cash (approximately $1.5 million) and stock. The closing is scheduled for September 30, 2002. The acquisition is just one of a number slated for the next two years and will allow XStream to further enhance Dark Dog¹s position in the global energy drink space. Already widely known in Europe, the award-winning Dark Dog is currently distributed in over 20 countries worldwide and is second globally in market brand recognition only to Red Bull, the company that currently leads the energy drink segment of the “New Age” beverage market.
The news of the definitive agreement of Dark Dog follows the recent announcement that Cardinal, the venerable Miami-based financial services and investment banking firm, brought XStream Beverage Group into its portfolio. The incubator relationship is a first for Cardinal and they have signed a firm commitment letter to provide XStream Beverage with funding of $10 million, including $3 million in equity financing and $7 million in a secondary offering.
Original Report from the New York Times:
XSTREAM BEVERAGE GROUP, Boca Raton, Fla., a beverage company, said it agreed to buy Dark Dog , a maker of energy drinks based in Salzburg, Austria, for $34 million in cash and stock.
NATIONWIDE FINANCIAL SERVICES INC., Columbus, Ohio, said that one of its units bought Coda Capital Management, Radner, Pa., a convertible bond manager that oversees $40 million. Terms were not disclosed.