Hat Trick Beverage Inc. (HKBV)

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:45 pm

Hat Trick Beverage, Inc. is the parent company of several operating subsidiaries in the hot and cold drink industry. Trading on the Pink Sheets, they have operations in San Diego, California, and Toronto, Ontario. The company has their corporate headquarters in Encinitas, California.

The company's product line up includes Dos Lagos, which are traditional Mexican juice drinks aimed at the growing Latino and Hispanic community. They also have their Vital V2o, a healthy vitamin enriched, zero calorie, zero carbohydrate, no sugar added line of Vitality Waters. In addition, they have their Buzzys Coffee, which are flavored canned coffee drinks. This includes a rich smooth espresso with sweet caramel concoction.

To further growth, Hat Trick Beverage, Inc. and Buckethead Beverages, Inc. have created a joint venture. This joint venture combines innovative products from Buckethead with the expertise and distribution network of Hat Trick. Buckethead products include Pumped Fitness Water, an all-natural, lightly sweetened fruit flavored line of fitness waters. Pumped Fitness comes in proprietary 15 and 30 ounce bottles shaped like dumbbells. They also have their Super Buzz Energy Drink line; a 16-ounce Mango Passion fruit flavored beverage, as well as a healthy fruit-flavored, sports-top bottled beverage line with robot characters for children.

The company has launched a Southern California Logistics Center for distribution of their cold drinks in the Southwest area together with the forthcoming U.S. launch of their hot drink division of Tango Cafe and franchising opportunities across the U.S. and Canada. The company also sees the center as a launching pad for their entry into the China and Asian markets. The company opened up a show room facility recently in Toronto, Ontario and a logistics centre in Ontario for their North East operations as well. Hat Trick has also negotiated a preliminary merger agreement with 3 Swordsman Milk Company that would allow the company to gain a foothold in China's market.

Today, the company announced that they received an initial proposal to merge with a privately held Italian manufacturer of specialty beverage vending equipment. The proposal is to acquire a majority position in Hat Trick for a combination of cash and stock. The buyer is a well-established supplier in the European market, and a pre-IPO company (Frankfurt Exchange) with assets of approximately $7 to $10 million Euros, and a record of accomplishment of more than 15 years of operation. Their capitalization in Frankfurt is expected to be in the $100 million Euro range.