· Sale Officially Approved on November 3, 2009
· ComVest to Become New Majority Owner of Velocity Express
· Transaction Eliminates over $100 Million of Debt
· Velocity Believes it Will Have One of Industry’s Strongest Balance Sheets
WESTPORT, Conn – Velocity Express Corporation, the nation’s largest provider of time definite regional delivery solutions, announced that the sale of the Company’s operating assets (“Velocity” or the “Company”) to a subsidiary (“Comvest”) of Comvest Investment Partners III, L.P., a leading private investment firm with a proven track record in the transportation industry, has officially been approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware pursuant to Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The sale order confirming the Court’s approval was entered on November 3, 2009.
The Court approved the sale following a post-petition auction process and a global settlement by Velocity with its unsecured creditors. Pursuant to the terms of the sale, ComVest will become the Company’s new majority owner and the Company’s balance sheet will be significantly deleveraged.
Vincent A. Wasik, Velocity’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “This is a momentous event in the history of our company. With Comvest as our new owner and partner, we believe we will now have the financial and operational support we need to grow our business aggressively and profitably. We are dedicated to continuing to provide excellent service to our customers as well as a dynamic and rewarding work environment for our employees and independent contractors.”
“This transaction will reduce the burden of our legacy liabilities by eliminating over $100 million of debt, creating a financially stronger, well capitalized company. With a better financial position, we will continue to be able to pursue large business development opportunities, and increase our investment in technology and services to benefit our valued Customers. Thanks to the continued support and hard-work of our more than 3,300 dedicated Employees and Independent Contractors, we expect this transition to be seamless to our Customers.”
Jose Gordo, a Partner at ComVest, said, “We are committed to making Velocity a dominant logistics services company. With our support, we believe that the Company will now have one of the strongest balance sheets in its industry, positioning it optimally to provide continuing top quality service to its solid existing customer base and to target new significant business development opportunities from large customers looking for customized, efficient logistics solutions. We are also optimistic that our extensive experience in the transportation and logistics industry and the operational contributions we intend to make will yield positive results for the Company, and its customers, employees and independent contractors.”
Additional information about the Velocity Express sale is available at the Company’s web site, www.velocityexpress.com under Company Info.
About The Comvest Group
The Comvest Group is a leading private investment firm focused on providing debt and equity solutions to lower middle-market companies with enterprise values of less than $350 million. Since 1988, The Comvest Group has invested more than $2 billion of capital in over 200 public and private companies worldwide. Through its extensive financial resources and broad network of industry experts, The Comvest Group is able to offer our companies total financial sponsorship, critical strategic support, and business development assistance.
About Velocity Express
Velocity Express has one of the largest nationwide networks of regional, time definite, ground delivery service areas, providing a national footprint for customers desiring same day service throughout the United States. The Company’s services are supported by a customer-focused technology infrastructure, providing customers with the reliability and information they need to manage their transportation and logistics systems, including a proprietary package tracking system that enables customers to view the status of any package via a flexible web