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EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Peter Van Hierden, a director, is President and CEO and principal owner of Duratech Group, Inc. Duratech is engaged in the homebuilding and manufactured housing business in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, which are experiencing rapid growth primarily because of commodities such as oil, uranium and diverse mining. Duratech operates through its business units Duratech Contracting and Duratech Structures and through its ownership of 50% of the share capital of two joint venture companies: P&R Gateway Developments Inc. and 1371009 Alberta Ltd., both Alberta corporations. Mr. Van Hierden has been an entrepreneur for over 30 years, having started, run, bought and sold companies over that time period. Over the past 15 years, he helped successfully turn around the profitability, from a loss to a profit, of six companies ranging from $1 million to $30 million in revenue.
Richard von Gnechten, a director since April 19, 2006, has served since 2005 as President and CEO of Ravon Corp., which provides corporate financial advisory services. Mr. von Gnechten joined Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) in 1991 and served as Financial Vice President & CFO from 2000 to 2004, managing/implementing Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC and NYSE compliance. During his tenure, Hawaiian Electric was recognized by a Dow Jones public company survey as a top 5 company for corporate governance and top 10 for disclosure transparency. Mr. von Gnechten also serves as Managing Director and CEO for Global Kingdom Finance Co. and Partner of Naviscent Group, LLC and board member for several companies. He has an MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Financial Management Program graduate from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and a degree in Economics from the University of Denver.
EMPLOYEES
Duratech Group Inc. has a staff of approximately 30 employees, of which 15 are employed on a full-time basis and approximately 15 are on a contract or part-time basis. This number will fluctuate on a month-to-month basis.
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Duratech Group Inc. (“Duratech”) was founded as Duratech Contracting on December 18, 2002 as a small homebuilding company constructing about 5 homes a year until Peter Van Hierden (“Van Hierden”) bought out the majority partners and took control of the operations in July, 2007. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Van Hierden identified a synergistic opportunity to acquire a modular oil camp factory which was also in distress and acquired the company in July, 2007. Since that time management has been able to turn both these operations around and now seeks to grow the company organically and through additional acquisitions. Duratech changed its name from Duratech Contracting to Duratech Group Inc. in August, 2008.
Duratech’s principle operations are building manufactured and stick-built homes and modular oil camps in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada which are experiencing very rapid growth primarily because of commodities such as oil, uranium and diverse mining.
On September 17, 2008, Duratech completed a reverse merger transaction with UpSnap, Inc. (“UpSnap”), a Nevada corporation that was formed on July 25, 2003. In connection with the reverse merger, Duratech became a wholly-owned subsidiary of UpSnap, and the Duratech Shareholders acquired control of UpSnap. The Registrant expects to change the company’s name from UpSnap Inc. to Duratech Group Inc. as soon as the filings can be completed.
SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS
Duratech manufactures and builds homes and modular sites for its marketplace, principally Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Company has four principal products that it offers: First, the company builds on-site conventional homes; second, the company builds ready-to-move (RTM) homes in factories and brings them on foundations to sell to end users; third, the company builds modular camp sites for the oil mining industry; and fourth, the company buys and moves modular and manufactured homes from the United States where markets have been depressed and homes can be bought at discount prices.
Duratech had $4.97 million in revenues for its fiscal year end January 31, 2008 compared to $1.53 million for the prior fiscal year. Gross profit was $858,000 for the fiscal year end January 31, 2008 compared to $579,000 for the prior fiscal year. Including reorganization and acquisition costs, the net income for the period end January 31, 2008 was $(93,000) compared to $43,000 for the prior fiscal year. Duratech currently has a pipeline of projects for an estimated $13 million in revenue, although it cannot guarantee that each of these will be completed and/or sold in its current fiscal year.
STRATEGY FOR GROWTH
Duratech has two principal strategies for growth: 1) build construction for its existing marketplace and 2) expand through strategic acquisitions both in its existing market and the United States.
Build Existing Market:
In its existing marketplace, Duratech supplies the four principal products previously described. Given its competitive advantages in these product areas and the strong growth prospects within Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Company believes that it will be able to grow its four product lines within its existing marketplace.
Expand through Strategic Acquisitions:
In addition to expanding its existing operations in its existing market, Duratech fully expects to leverage its operational success and the experience of its Chairman, CEO and largest shareholder, Peter Van Hierden, to pursue attractive and strategic acquisition targets within its existing market and also in the United States where the real estate market offers many potential opportunities. Mr. Van Hierden has been an entrepreneur for 30 years and has successfully turned around six failing corporations in the past 15 years ranging in size from $1 to $30 million. Mr. Van Hierden has also previously helped develop a fund which successfully raised $7 million of private capital and has consistently been able to attain over 18% per annum return for investors. UNPUBLICIZED PENDING ACQUISITION!
COMPANY MARKETS
Duratech’s existing markets are Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, which have experienced tremendous growth. Alberta is a business friendly province with the lowest tax load of any province in Canada, including no provincial retail tax. Alberta has massive oil reserves with some estimates as high as 1.3 trillion barrels of oil. Canada has not suffered from the US subprime debacle in which homes were financed at high debt levels for buyers that could not afford them, because of its strong economy and government regulations which prevent homes to be mortgaged beyond 80% without having mortgage guarantees, thus foreclosures are rare. In September, 2006, Statistics Canada confirmed Alberta’s current economic growth as the strongest such growth by a province in Canadian history, averaging 12.6% per year since 2002 compared to China’s 14.8% average. While worldwide economic conditions may well impact this growth, all indications are that the boom will last well into the next decade.
COMPETITION
The Company’s principal competitors on job site structures would be: Northern Trailer, Arcticore Structures, Atco and BCT Structures. In the homebuilding and ready-to-move homes area it would be: commercial stick builders, SRI Homes and Triple M Homes.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Duratech’s key competitive advantages are: 1) Alberta and Saskatchewan market advantage; 2) Factory construction advantage; 3) Direct sales advantage; and 4) Ready-to-move (RTM) advantage.
Alberta and Saskatchewan Market Advantage:
As more fully described under Company Markets, Duratech’s principle operating markets are Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, which have experienced very strong growth because of the various commodities that are indigenous to the provinces, including oil, uranium and diverse mining. In September, 2006, Statistics Canada confirmed Alberta’s current economic growth as the strongest such growth by a province in Canadian history, averaging 12.6% per year since 2002 compared to China’s 14.8% average.
Furthermore, Canada has not suffered from the US subprime debacle because of its strong economy and government regulations which prevent homes to be mortgaged beyond 80% without having mortgage guarantee, thus foreclosures are rare.
Factory Construction Advantage:
Alberta has unique traffic laws which allow transporting homes to a width of 35 feet on the highway. Building homes in a factory has many significant advantages, including: 1) reduced construction time from 6-8 months to 2-3 weeks; 2) improve efficiency in hours of construction by more than 40%; and 3) reduce labor costs by as much as 50% due to using all company staff versus sub-contractors. Overall cost savings of building in a factory is at least 30% compared to on-site, stick-built homes. Using a factory also helps avoid potential weather issues.
Direct Sales Advantage:
Whereas traditional modular house builders market their product through a sophisticated dealer network, Duratech buys lots, sets the homes on the foundation and then markets their product through the local MLS Real Estate. Duratech increases its profitability by 30% by by-passing the dealer network. The Company has also established relationships with investors that are interested in carrying the cost of the home until it sells.
Ready-to-move (RTM) Advantage:
Duratech is also not constrained to its local real estate market, because the homes it builds can be moved to “hot” real estate markets in Alberta and Saskatchewan, as necessary. This is an advantage compared to stick built homes and allows the company to put the house on a lot with basement and garage (taking out the middleman). No marketing department is required as the company relies on realtors to determine demand levels of individual areas.
SALES AND MARKETING
Duratech does not require an extensive in-house marketing department to sell its homes because it has the flexibility of moving its homes to whatever market may be “hot” in Alberta or Saskatchewan at a particular time. The Company uses real estate brokers and realtors to identify opportunities and to sell the homes that are constructed. The Company also engages a marketing consultant based in Calgary that helps with job site structures (camp sites for oil mining industry).
The principle factors that affect sales volumes and prices are the economies of the markets that the Company serves, principally Alberta and Saskatchewan. There are other risk factors detailed later in this document that describe the more general risks that could impact the company’s business operations, including the impact of global geo-political issues and financial markets beyond the company’s control.
Duratech had $4.97 million in revenues for its fiscal year end January 31, 2008 compared to $1.53 million for the prior fiscal year. Duratech currently has a pipeline of projects for an estimated $13 million in revenue, although it cannot guarantee that each of these will be completed and/or sold in its current fiscal year.
New Products:
Duratech is continually refining its manufacturing process to ensure the most efficient operations possible. The Company is also continually exploring new construction techniques that might allow it to develop new products in the homebuilding industry. The company does not currently have any patents on such techniques, but may file for such in the future.
Hummel -----------
"Gemäß anerkannter flugmechanischer Gesetze kann eine Hummel
aufgrund ihrer Gestalt und ihres Gewichtes im Vergleich zur
Flügelfläche nicht fliegen. Die Hummel weiß es nicht und
fliegt trotzdem." |
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