[b]$EMBK[/b] .065 News Embark Holdings Inc. Acquires Muscle Warfare, Inc. as a Wholly Owned Subsidiary
MISSION VIEJO, California, April 11, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Embark Holdings, Inc. (OTC: EMBK) a leader in providing research, evaluation and acquisition services to businesses throughout the world, announced acquiring 100% of Muscle Warfare, Inc. (http://musclewarfare.com) a company that develops, manufactures, and markets sports nutrition products of the highest quality for athletes around the world in all sports, including both professional and amateur enthusiasts. The acquisition consisted of preferred shares in Embark Holdings, Inc.
Muscle Warfare products are certified banned substance free by the World Anti-Doping Agency ("WADA") standards and are tested in one of the most elite testing labs in the world called HFL Sport Science, the world's largest and most experienced sports test laboratory. The HFL laboratory is ISO Certified and accredited for forensic testing and meets or exceeds world anti-doping agency standards and requirements. The company's processes insure that the product offerings distributed are free of inadvertent contaminants and are not deliberately spiked with contaminant compounds by many raw material manufacturers. Additionally, all Muscle Warfare products are manufactured in facilities that are NSF International "third party audited" and certified to meet or exceed, Good Manufacturing Practice ("GMP") guidelines. GMP quality assurance also insures all raw materials used in our products 'meet spec' and are what they claim to be.
Since 2008 Muscle Warfare, Inc. has been led by Mr. Daniel Amato. For the past 13 years he has been recognized as a proven winner within the industry with many successes and proven track record marketing and branding sports nutrition products through multiple brands and marketing strategies.
Muscle Warfare has reached approximately $1.9 million in sales in 2011, however, in 2012. Muscle Warfare performed a calculated pull back of sales distribution to successfully navigate an industry wide FDA notice on the ingredient DMAA, which restricted sales industry wide. "We expected to hit 3-4 Million in sales in 2012 with strong profits. Instead, we decided to utilize this time to carefully rebrand our products to be banned substance free and create formulations that were even more effective. During this process we had intentionally slowed sales to rebrand the company, upgrade our look and presentation and take our overall quality standards to the highest level," said Mr. Amato.
Muscle Warfare is pleased with this strategy as it has worked; we are now distributing product in approximately 550+ Vitamin Shoppe stores Nationwide. Also, they have a very strong partnership with Europa, the largest independent sports nutrition distributor in the U.S.; along with many Large scale International Clients, which we believe will help continue our growth trajectory.
Year-Ended 2011 Year-Ended 2012
Net Sales $1,902,583.00 $1,613,232.00
COGS $1,044,125.00 $966,391.00
Operating Expenses $1,039,661.00 $1,171,105.00
Net Income ($181,203.00) ($ 524,264.00)
The Sports Nutrition Market is among the fastest growing and was one of the most resilient markets since the 2007 market downturn, experiencing impressive growth during this entire period. This strong and rapid market growth is forecasted by experts to continue for years to come due to continued and growing use and promotion of these products by elite professional athletes and bodybuilders. In addition, the amateur athlete market continues to expand and grow which is increasing the use of these products; this segment is expected to exceed $6 billion by 2018 according to the most recent Consumer Trend Reports.
Daniel Amato, President and CEO of Embark Holdings, Inc. and Muscle Warfare, Inc. stated "I am very excited about the future of both companies and will keep the public informed of the progress. In addition, I would like to inform our shareholders that we have recently subscribed to OTCIQ and within a few weeks plan to be current with OTC Markets and continue to file reports on a quarterly basis, this is a very exciting time for the company and only the beginning of what I believe will be another success story."
About Muscle Warfare, Inc.
Muscle Warfare is a cutting edge sports nutrition manufacturer that is passionately driven to create and distribute the absolute highest quality products in the marketplace. Every product we develop has been forged with great experience and focus on maximizing product efficacy for real world results. Furthermore, Muscle Warfare products are rigorously tested by top testing labs to help insure them free of banned substances. We are truly committed to helping all athletes achieve and surpass their highest goals and potential.
For more information on Muscle Warfare see them at their website: http://musclewarfare.com/home/
About Vitamin Shoppe, Inc. (VSI)
Vitamin Shoppe is a leading multi-channel specialty retailer of nutritional products based in North Bergen, New Jersey. In its stores and on its website, the company carries one of the most comprehensive retail assortments in the industry, including vitamins, minerals, specialty supplements, herbs, sports nutrition, homeopathic remedies, green living products, and health and beauty aids. In addition to offering 400 national brand products, the Vitamin Shoppe also exclusively carries products under The Vitamin Shoppe, BodyTech, True Athlete and MyTrition brands. The Vitamin Shoppe conducts business through more than 600 company-operated retail stores under The Vitamin Shoppe, Super Supplements and Vitapath retail banners, and through its website, http://www.VitaminShoppe.com. Follow The Vitamin Shoppe on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/THEVITAMINSHOPPE and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/VitaminShoppe
About Embark Holdings, Inc. (OTC: EMBK)
Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Mission Viejo, California, United States, our business model is to research, evaluate, and acquire profitable private firms in the business segments of entertainment, technology, medical, energy, and business services for the benefit of our shareholders.
By providing the financial and human capital necessary to deal with the overwhelming administrative, planning, governance, compliance, and regulatory issues that abound, our partners can focus their energy and flourish.
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