Byrna Technologies acquires e – GuruFocus.com

Hires industry veteran David Happe to lead Byrna’s pepper spray division

ANDOVER, Mass., May 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Byrna Technologies Inc. (“Byrna” or “the Company”) (Nasdaq: BYRN) today announced that it has acquired the assets of Fox Labs International Inc. (“Fox Labs”). Fox Labs, which has been in business for over 30 years, produces what is arguably the strongest pepper spray on the market today, primarily aimed at law enforcement and other security professionals ( nationally and internationally).

Byrna acquires substantially all of the assets of Fox Labs International for $2.17 million from the longtime owner and CEO, Ed Ferguson. Ed, who turned 75 this year, was looking for a buyer who shared his commitment to producing the highest quality products and had the resources to take Fox Labs to the next level. Byrna plans to build on the highly successful and profitable business that Ed has developed and managed for nearly 30 years.

Byrna intends to retain the Fox Labs brand as the brand has an excellent reputation with law enforcement and a loyal customer base of dealers and law enforcement agencies, many of whom use Fox Pepper Spray. Labs for decades. Fox currently offers 11 different SKUs, including the extremely popular “5.3”, which refers to 5.3 million SHU (Scoville Heat Units). In addition to these fast-acting oil-based sprays, Fox Labs also offers water-based sprays including “Mean Green”, which includes a green dye to mark an aggressor, and “White Lightening”, a clear spray which includes an ultraviolet dye. You can find Fox Labs’ current offering at foxlabs.com.

Along with the acquisition, Byrna acquires the rights to Sudecon, the only truly effective pepper and tear gas neutralizer on the market. Sudecon, which is extremely popular with law enforcement, can clear a suspect who has been pepper sprayed (OC) and/or tear gas (CS). It both stops the pain and neutralizes any residual CO or CS on the suspect. It is also effective on Byrna Max and Byrna pepper. Byrna has had an interest for some time in developing a neutralizing agent that can be used to cleanse a person struck by a Byrna Max Where Byrna pepper round. Sudecon is such a product. The company believes that Sudecon will be of great interest to law enforcement and current Byrna civilian customers as well as all consumers who carry pepper spray.

In addition to maintaining Fox Labs’ current volume of business with the Fox Labs brand, Byrna plans to leverage Fox Labs technology and over 30 years of experience to create its own line of Byrna-branded sprays with the best in class. Guy Repellant” which will use both OC (pepper) and CS (tear gas) to subdue an attacker to maximum effect. Byrna expects these branded sprays to be sold on Byrna.com as well as the Amazon store of Byrna and through Byrna’s network of physical dealers.

While Byrna’s primary focus has been the direct-to-consumer market, Fox Labs’ primary focus has been law enforcement and remediation both domestically and overseas. As a result, Fox Labs sprays are widely recognized by law enforcement as one of the fastest and most effective sprays on the market and Fox Labs sprays are currently standard issue in hundreds of law enforcement agencies. law enforcement around the world. United States. Additionally, Fox Labs sprays are sold by several top law enforcement resellers, including Kroll, Galls, and PS Security Products.

Bryan GanzCEO of Byrna, said that “we have been looking to enter the defensive spray market for some time. Not only does this give us another personal self-defense product at a lower point on the ‘strength continuum’, but it gives us this very important price product for consumers who are looking for effective self-defense tools but cannot afford a Byrna SD.What makes this acquisition so strategic is that we not only acquire a suite of new products complementary, but we’re also acquiring hundreds of new law enforcement customers. In fact, none of Fox Labs’ top 20 customers are currently a Byrna customer. We plan to utilize the strong presence of law enforcement the order of Fox Labs to drive the growth of Byrna’s law enforcement division.

Mr. Ganz continued, “By developing and offering a line of Byrna-branded self-defense sprays, appropriately called ‘Byrna Bad Guy Repellent’, we believe we can generate millions of dollars in additional business from of our current clientele. Byrna currently has over 22,000 web sessions per day on Byrna.com and another 9,000 sessions per day on Amazon.com. Additionally, Byrna has an email list of over 225,000 opt-in subscribers and another 75,000 SMS subscribers. the classroom self-defense spray will be of great interest to those members of Byrna Nation.”

Mr. Ganz continued, “Fox Labs is an ideal acquisition for Byrna because it meets all of our M&A; criteria. First, it produces a premium product that complements our current product line. Second, there are huge opportunities for growth because Fox Labs has never done any marketing, relying solely on word of mouth. Thirdly, Fox Labs is, and always has been, profitable and will not be a drain on Byrna’s human or financial resources and fourthly, we can easily finance the purchase from cash on hand without straining the balance sheet.”

As part of acquisition strategy, Byrna hired industry veteran David Happe to serve as president of the new Self-Defense Aerosol Spray division. Happe was the former executive vice president of Mace Pepper Spray and most recently served as a consultant for Fox Labs. His experience includes 30 years in retail, first as a national buyer for Best Buy and then Walmart Stores, Inc. Happe was Amazon’s lead consultant when they opened their consumer electronics store. . David then went on his own, founding a consumer products company, Vigilant, which he eventually sold to Mace Security. Happe, who joined Byrna’s team on May 23, 2022is responsible for worldwide sales of Byrna and Fox Labs self-defense sprays.

About Byrna Technologies Inc.
Byrna is a technology company specializing in the development, manufacture and sale of innovative non-lethal personal safety solutions. For more information about the company, please visit the company’s website here or the Company’s Investor Relations site here. The Company is the manufacturer of the Byrna^® SD Personal Security Device, a state-of-the-art portable CO2-powered launcher designed to provide a non-lethal alternative to a firearm for the consumer, private security and law enforcement markets. To purchase Byrna products, visit the company’s online store.

Forward-looking information
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of United States securities laws. All statements in this press release, other than statements of current and historical facts, are forward-looking. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “projects”, “intends”, “anticipates”, and “believes”. and statements that certain actions, events, or results “may”, “could”, “should”, “might”, “will occur” or “will be achieved” or “will be taken”. Forward-looking statements include descriptions of ongoing matters that may continue in the future. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, the expectation that the company’s current customers will be interested in Fox products, the plan to sell these products on the company’s websites Byrna and Amazon, the belief that Byrna’s brand self-defense offering of sprays can generate significant incremental sales, the implication that the marketing of Fox products will result in growth in sales of such products, the statement that Fox Labs’ business is consistently profitable and statements regarding the integration of Fox Labs into Byrna’s operations. are based on, among other things, opinions, assumptions, estimates and analyzes which, although considered reasonable by the Company on the date on which the forward-looking information is provided, are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied.

A number of risk factors could affect our actual results and cause them to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release, including, but not limited to, an extended, new or exacerbated by our supply chain. , delays in the development and introduction of new products, decisions by distribution channels controlled by third parties not to retain or reduce inventory of our products, challenges associated with integrating the Fox Labs business into operations of Byrna, inability to retain or grow Fox Labs’ historical customer base, and potential cancellations of existing or future orders, including due to delays in fulfillment, the introduction of competing products, negative publicity or other factors. The order in which these factors appear should not be construed as indicating their relative importance or priority. We caution that these factors may not be exhaustive; therefore, the forward-looking statements contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. Investors should carefully consider these and other relevant factors, including the risk factors in Part I, Item 1A, (“Risk Factors”) in our most recent Form 10-K, should understand that there It is impossible to predict or identify all of these factors or risks. , should not regard the foregoing list, or the risks identified in our filings with the SEC, as a complete analysis of all potential risks or uncertainties, and should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.

Contact:
Byrna Technologies, Inc.
David NorthFinancial director
978-269-7785