SAN DIEGO, March 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PriceSmart,
Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT), the largest operator of membership warehouse
clubs in Central America, the
Caribbean, and Colombia, announced today that it has acquired
Aeropost, Inc., an end-to-end cross-border package delivery service
and online retailer headquartered in Miami, Florida.
Aeropost is one of the largest and most visible cross border
logistics and e-commerce providers in Latin America and the Caribbean, currently offering services to 38
countries and territories, including 11 where PriceSmart currently
operates. Aeropost offers convenient local pickup points, and an
innovative local payments platform that allows buyers to purchase
US-sourced merchandised online.
PriceSmart will operate Aeropost from its headquarters in
Miami as a wholly owned
subsidiary.
"We admire PriceSmart's operational excellence and commitment to
its members. Becoming part of the PriceSmart family gives us the
opportunity to take Aeropost.com and PriceSmart to the forefront of
retail innovation. We can't think of a better match," said
Carlos M. Herrera, Aeropost's
CEO.
The technology behind Aeropost.com coupled with its strong team,
will allow PriceSmart to offer new online shopping options for its
members, strengthening its commitment to provide an exceptional
member experience with high quality merchandise at low prices.
"We are very excited to welcome the talented team at Aeropost to
the PriceSmart family. Expanding on the strength of our brick and
mortar clubs, the acquisition of Aeropost provides an opportunity
to accelerate the development of an omni-channel shopping
experience for our members" said Jose Luis
Laparte, PriceSmart's President and CEO.
About PriceSmart
PriceSmart, headquartered in San
Diego, owns and operates U.S.-style membership shopping
warehouse clubs in Latin America
and the Caribbean, selling high
quality merchandise at low prices to PriceSmart members. PriceSmart
now operates 40 warehouse clubs in 12 countries and one U.S.
territory (seven each in Colombia
and Costa Rica; five in
Panama; four in Trinidad; three each in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Honduras; two each in El Salvador and Nicaragua; and one each in Aruba, Barbados, Jamaica and the United States Virgin Islands).
This press release may contain forward-looking statements
concerning the Company's anticipated future revenues and earnings,
adequacy of future cash flow, proposed warehouse club openings, the
Company's performance relative to competitors, the outcome of tax
proceedings and related matters. These forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements containing the words
"expect," "believe," "will," "may," "should," "project,"
"estimate," "anticipated," "scheduled," and like expressions, and
the negative thereof. These statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially,
including the following risks: our financial performance is
dependent on international operations, which exposes us to various
risks; any failure by us to manage our widely dispersed operations
could adversely affect our business; we face significant
competition; future sales growth depends, in part, on our ability
to successfully open new warehouse clubs and grow sales in our
existing locations; we might not identify in a timely manner or
effectively respond to changes in consumer preferences for
merchandise, which could adversely affect our relationship with
members, demand for our products and market share; although we
offer limited online shopping to our members in certain markets,
our sales could be adversely affected if one or more major
international online retailers were to enter our markets or if
other competitors were to offer a superior online experience;
failure to grow our e-commerce business through the integration of
physical and digital retail or otherwise, and the cost of our
increasing e-commerce investments, may materially adversely affect
our market position, net sales and financial performance; our
profitability is vulnerable to cost increases; we face difficulties
in the shipment of, and risks inherent in the importation of,
merchandise to our warehouse clubs; we are exposed to weather and
other natural disaster risks that might not be adequately
compensated by insurance; negative economic conditions could
adversely impact our business in various respects; our failure to
maintain our brand and reputation could adversely affect our
results of operations; we face the risk of exposure to product
liability claims, a product recall and adverse publicity; we are
subject to risks associated with possible changes in our
relationships with third parties with which we do business, as well
as the performance of such third parties; we could be subject to
additional tax liabilities or subject to reserves on the
recoverability of tax receivables; we face the possibility of
operational interruptions related to union work stoppages; we are
subject to volatility in foreign currency exchange rates and limits
on our ability to convert foreign currencies into U.S. dollars; we
face compliance risks related to our international operations; we
rely extensively on computer systems to process transactions,
summarize results and manage our business. Failure to adequately
maintain our systems and disruptions in our systems could harm our
business and adversely affect our results of operations; we may
experience difficulties implementing our new global enterprise
resource planning system; any failure by us to maintain the
security of the information that we hold relating to our company,
members, employees and vendors, whether as a result of
cybersecurity attacks on our information systems, failure of
internal controls, employee negligence or malfeasance or otherwise,
could damage our reputation with members, employees, vendors and
others, could disrupt our operations, could cause us to incur
substantial additional costs and to become subject to litigation
and could materially adversely affect our operating results; we are
subject to payment related risks; failure to attract and retain
qualified employees, increases in wage and benefit costs, changes
in laws and other labor issues could materially adversely affect
our financial performance; changes in accounting standards and
assumptions, projections, estimates and judgments by management
related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect
our financial condition and results of operations; a few of our
stockholders own approximately 25.3% of our voting stock as of
November 30, 2017, which may make it difficult to complete
some corporate transactions without their support and may impede a
change in control. The risks described above as well as the other
risks detailed in the Company's U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC") reports, including the Company's Annual Report
on Form 10- K filed for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017 filed on October 26, 2017 pursuant to the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. We assume no obligation and expressly
disclaim any duty to update any forward- looking statement to
reflect events or circumstances after the date of this presentation
or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
For further information, please contact John M. Heffner, Principal Financial Officer and
Principal Accounting Officer (858) 404-8826.
About Aeropost Inc.
Founded in Costa Rica, Aeropost
is a well-established provider of logistics and payment services in
Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, Aeropost.com enables
customers to buy products internationally with a fully landed
price, local payment methods and local delivery. Aeropost serves
customers in 38 countries with Costa
Rica, Trinidad and
Jamaica as its largest
markets.
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SOURCE PriceSmart, Inc.