Global Digital Solutions Inc. (GDSI) Acquires Privately Held Rontan Group of Brazil

PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Digital Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB: GDSI), a company that is positioning itself as a leader in providing comprehensive security and technology solutions, today announced that it has acquired the Rontan Group ("Rontan"), headquartered in Sao Paulo state, Brazil. (Refer to GDSI's October 19, 2015, 8-K filing for details.)

At an upcoming special meeting, GDSI's board of directors is expected to elect Rontan's CEO, Edigimar A. Maximiliano Jr., Chief Executive Officer of GDSI and Richard J. Sullivan Non-Executive Chairman.

Founded in 1970, privately held Rontan designs, manufactures and delivers emergency warning equipment specifically for public safety organizations and professionals. Rontan exports products to many of the world's most competitive markets, including the United States, Canada, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle East and Africa. The largest specialty vehicles and acoustic and visual signaling equipment company in Latin America, Rontan has earned ISO and TS Certifications, attesting to the quality of its management systems.

With 2014 revenue of R$ 500 million (approximately US$ 128 million), Rontan produces some 5,000 vehicles per month and has approximately 1,200 direct and indirect employees. In 1999, through a partnership with the biggest worldwide manufacturers of vehicles for fire fighters, Rontan became an authorized representative of the Oshkosh Pierce vehicles.

Rontan Telecom is the largest manufacturer and distributor of Motorola radios and communication trunking systems for police forces in Brazil, providing technical assistance on the full line of Motorola radios.

"This exciting transaction represents a significant step forward for GDSI," said Richard J. Sullivan, expected to be named non-executive Chairman of GDSI. "We have been extremely impressed by Rontan's 45 years of experience and exceptional record of serving customer needs with top-quality products and services – both in Brazil and internationally. Rontan's capabilities create enormous synergies with the specialty vehicles produced by North American Custom Specialty Vehicles (NACSV), GDSI's wholly owned subsidiary. We're especially delighted that "Max" Maximilliano (Rontan's CEO, Edigimar A. Maximilliano) will serve as GDSI's CEO. Max is an extremely talented and experienced leader, and we're excited about welcoming Max and the entire Rontan team to the growing GDSI family."

"This is a momentous milestone in Rontan's 45-year history," said Edigimar Maximilliano ("Max"), expected to be named GDSI's new CEO. "The combination of Rontan and GDSI – with GDSI's experienced management team and board of directors headed by Richard Sullivan – will help us expand our capabilities while continuing to provide our worldwide customers with world-class products and services. I'm looking forward to leveraging Rontan's extensive experience and international reach to enable the new GDSI to team seize the many profitable growth opportunities envisioned by GDSI's global strategy."

For more information about the full line of products and services offered by Rontan, please watch this informative video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf7lFDXsJF8&feature=youtu.be. Refer to GDSI's October 19, 2015, 8-K filing for more details about this transaction.

About Edigimar A. Maximilliano ("Max")
"Max" Maximiliano started his career in 1993 at the fixed income desk of ING Barings as a trader of Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt Bonds. Between 1994 and 1998 Mr. Maximiliano was Treasury Department Manager of General Motors of Brazil and GMC's TONY (Treasury Office New York), where he led the company's dealing desk.

In 1998, he joined Iguatemi Group, in both Iguatemi Malls and GVT (Global Village Telecom, now Telefonica Group, the largest Telco company in Brazil). He began in the position of Financial Controller and Treasury Officer before being promoted to the Chief Financial Officer position. Between 2000 and 2007, Mr. Maximiliano served as Investments/Capital Markets Managing Director of Unibanco, Brazil's third largest privately held bank at the time.

In April 2007, he joined Bradesco BBI, Brazil's second-largest privately held bank to be one of the leaders of the investment banking division. Between 2007 and 2013, Bradesco BBI's bottom line jumped 18 times.

After being involved in more than 80 structured deals – including M&A and IPOs, among others – and after being ranked 13 times in the renowned Institutional Investors Ranking, in 2014 Mr. Maximiliano accepted the invitation to become the Rontan Group's CEO.

In 1996, Mr. Maximiliano received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from FGV-SP, the Business Administration School of São Paulo at the Getulio Vargas Foundation. He earned a Master's degree in Economy and Finance from FGV-SP in 2009 and concluded credits of his PhD from FGV-SP in 2011.

More About the Rontan Group ("Rontan")
Founded in 1970, Rontan designs, manufactures and delivers emergency warning equipment specifically for public safety organizations and professionals. Rontan is comprised of six businesses and branch offices throughout Brazil, Latin America, North America and other international locations. The company's main product lines are divided into the following categories:

• Adaptation (producing light service trucks, ambulances, rescue vehicles, dental equipment vehicles, patrol vehicles, and motorcycles);
• Heavy Vehicles (fire trucks, military vehicles, and large service vehicles);
• Painting (output of approximately 100 cars per day);
• Metal Manufacturing/FCM (metal vehicle components from ambulance stretchers to motorcycle racks);
• Signaling (full line of advanced acoustic and visual signals (rotating, strobe and LED), plus electronic and electro-mechanical sirens for industrial and automotive uses);
• Ballistic Vests (produced to meet the strictest safety standards).

Rontan exports products to many of the world's most competitive markets, including the United States, Canada, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle East and Africa, demonstrating the quality and innovation of the entire line of Rontan's equipment and services.

Rontan North America, located in Miami, Florida, manufactures visual and acoustic signaling equipment and provides assistance for customers in foreign markets. It is also the authorized distributor for all Motorola telecommunications equipment for the United States, Canada, the Middle East and Oceania (including Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia). Rontan's Global Services division distributes parts and components throughout Brazil and all international markets. 

Rovcan, a Rontan Group company, is a joint venture with Vcan, the largest manufacturer of certified helmets in the world.

For more information about the full line of products and services offered by Rontan, please watch this informative video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf7lFDXsJF8&feature=youtu.be. Visit http://www.rontan.com.br/www/en/rontan/rontan.html.

For additional details about this transaction, please see GDSI's October 19, 2015 8-K Filing.

About GDSI's North American Custom Specialty Vehicles
NACSV specializes in building mobile command/communications and specialty vehicles for emergency management, first responders, national security and law enforcement operations.  
These specialty vehicles include:

• Mobile Command Center. A properly equipped mobile command center is a response and recovery vehicle that facilitates an agency's ability to expand their command and control capabilities to a remote location. Full interoperable communications are a standard for the mobile command center. For the emergency management agency, the vehicle is an extension of the fixed base emergency operations center. The vehicle should be built with long-term deployment in mind but also be easy to operate in order to allow for quick deployment by minimum personnel if necessary. The successful design of a mobile command center will dictate the frequency of use. In other words, the more difficult to move and operate, the fewer deployments.
• Command and Control: In the law enforcement environment, the vehicle can be utilized for command and control as well as hostage negotiations and even as a mobile precinct. Full law enforcement dispatch capabilities can be installed as well as back-up systems to the 9-1-1 Center.
• Incident Command: The fire service unit, properly equipped, gives the incident commander the visibility and informational flow along with space for ICS functional personnel all in one area. A meeting area for functional ICS officers to share and evaluate information with the IC is necessary.

For more information about NACSV, please watch this informative video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1DK9SdUP9s, visit www.NACSVehicles.com, or call 888-595-6227.

More About Richard J. Sullivan
Dick Sullivan is an entrepreneurial pioneer. In 2001, Sullivan received the prestigious World Economic Forum's "Award for Advanced Chip Technology" presented in Davos, Switzerland. He served as Chairman and CEO of Applied Digital Solutions, where he executed a technology rollup involving 42 acquisitions that succeeded in increasing the company's share price from $2.50 to a peak of $18 per share. During Sullivan's decade-long tenure as Chairman and CEO, Applied Digital was one of the highest volume traded stocks on NASDAQ. Sullivan also served as Chairman and CEO of Digital Angel Corporation and led the effort to spin off VeriChip Corporation. In 1970, he was a founding member of the management team of Manufacturing Data Systems, Inc., which listed at $7.50 per share and was sold to Schlumberger N.V. in 1980 at $65 per share.

About Global Digital Solutions, Inc.
Global Digital Solutions is positioning itself as a leader in providing comprehensive security and technology solutions. On June 16, 2014, GDSI completed its acquisition of North American Custom Specialty Vehicles (NACSV), a leading builder of mobile command/communications and specialty vehicles for emergency management, first responders, national security, and law enforcement operations. For more information about GDSI, visit http://www.gdsi.co.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give the Company's current expectations or forecasts of future events. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are often difficult to predict and beyond the Company's control, and could cause the Company's results to differ materially from those described. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions. These statements include statements regarding moving forward with executing the Company's global growth strategy. The statements are based upon current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict. The Company is providing this information as of the date of this press release and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.  We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting the financial condition of our business. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved.  Important factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to the Risk Factors and other information set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 30, 2015, and in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:

Ross Trevino
561-515-6163
[email protected]

SOURCE Global Digital Solutions, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.gdsi.co