Acacia Automotive Set to Raise Capital

By Nick Zulovich, Staff Writer
March 12, 2007

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NASHVILLE, Tenn., and OCALA, Fla. — Acacia Automotive officials confirmed Friday that their filings with the SEC are completed and they are taking the next step to grow their company — raising capital.

During a shareholders meeting last month, the name on the articles of incorporation was officially changed from Gibbs Construction to Acacia Automotive, executives explained to Auto Remarketing.

"We are now authorized to engage in discussions with acquisition targets, and upon ‘consummation' of our funding process will seek to turn discussions into reality," Acacia officials said.

"The capital structure of a public corporation provides us with the ultimate opportunity to meet our very aggressive growth plans as we seek to become a major player in the industry. Utilizing that structure, the company will have to raise cash to implement its plan of acquiring existing automobile auctions, probably through the sale of common stock," the company reported.

According to Acacia executives, Gibbs Construction was the public company Acacia took control of during the outset of its operation last year and was used as a means of fundraising and a basis for SEC report filing purposes.

Additional amendments that were made during the shareholders meeting were an eight-for-one stock split, an increase of authorized common stock to 150 million shares and a permit to issue up to 2 million shares of preferred stock.

"This gives us the perfect vehicle to launch our aggressive plans to quickly become a major player in the auction arena and the automotive marketplace," said Steve "Junior" Sample, Acacia's chief executive officer.

Sample teamed up with fellow veteran auction executive Tony Moorby to establish Acacia. Sample spent 15 years with ADT Automotive (formerly Anglo-American Automotive), Manheim and ADESA. Moorby served as president of ADT Automotive before it was purchased by Manheim. He also worked for ADESA.

The ratification of proposals during the shareholders meeting is allowing Acacia to continue its plan for growth.

"This is an exciting time to be around the automotive auction business because of its many changes, and I've always maintained that there are opportunities where changes exist," Moorby noted.

"Whilst the fundamentals remain the same, technology has become an enormous enabler for service companies to excel. Junior and I are very like-minded people and I'm looking forward to helping create a new group of auctions that can act in harmony on behalf of the employees and customers alike. He has done a superb job in structuring a company that is now ready to be fully funded and start acquiring auctions," Moorby continued.

Acacia executives said they hope to complete their initial fundraising within about 60 days.

Auction/Wholesale