Global Partner Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: GPAC, GPACU, GPACW) and Purple Innovation, LLC today announced that GPAC has entered into a definitive agreement with a consortium of investors who have agreed to acquire an aggregate of $25 million of shares of common stock of GPAC through open market purchases, private purchases and private placements. In connection with these investments, Global Partner Sponsor I LLC, the sponsor of GPAC (the "Sponsor"), has agreed to assign to the investors an aggregate of 3,750,000 warrants that were issued to the Sponsor in a private placement in August 2015. GPAC is currently engaged in discussions with other investors in connection with additional investments of up to $65 million. Any such additional investments will be subject to the execution and delivery of definitive agreements.
GPAC will hold a special meeting of its stockholders (the "Special Meeting") on Friday, February 2, 2018at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, at which GPAC's stockholders will be asked to consider and vote on a proposal to approve the previously announced merger of a subsidiary of GPAC with and into Purple, with Purple surviving such merger, and related proposals. The record date for determination of stockholders entitled to vote at the Special Meeting was January 10, 2018. GPAC and Purple anticipate completing the proposed business combination following the Special Meeting on February 2, 2018. Upon the completion of the proposed business combination, GPAC will change its corporate name to Purple Innovation, Inc.
About Purple
Purple is a leading comfort technology company with a vision to improve how people sleep, sit and stand. Purple offers a range of mattress, bedding and cushioning products. Purple's products are the result of over 20 years of innovation and investment by the founders in proprietary and patented comfort technologies and the development of its own manufacturing processes. Purple's Hyper-Elastic Polymer® technology underpins many of its comfort products and provides a range of benefits that differentiate its offerings from other competitors' products.
Purple has core competencies in design, development and manufacturing, with decades of accumulated knowledge that enables it to create all aspects of its innovative products. Purple has vertically integrated its operations including research and development, marketing and manufacturing, resulting in an ability to rapidly test, learn, adapt and scale product offerings. Purple's combination of patents and intellectual property, proprietary and patented manufacturing equipment, production processes and decades of acquired knowledge create a distinct advantage over competitors that rely on commoditized technologies and outsourced manufacturing.
Purple has not only developed transformative products and technologies, but also a brand that drives high customer engagement. To date, Purple's videos have been seen more than 950 million times across Facebook and YouTube alone with over 600,000 fans and subscribers across social media.
About Global Partner Acquisition Corp.
Global Partner Acquisition Corp. is a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination. GPAC's units began trading on The NASDAQ Capital Market on July 30, 2015and its securities trade on NASDAQ under the ticker symbols GPAC, GPACW and GPACU.
