Medina International Holdings, Inc. CFO Rao Mankal Interviewed in USA Today
Article Highlights Mankal's Involvement in the Acquisition That Became Force Protection
Medina International Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: MIHI) Chief Financial Officer Rao Mankal was recently interviewed by USA Today. The interview discusses the evolution of Force Protection (NASDAQ: FRPT) and the role of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles in saving the lives of our soldiers.
Mankal was instrumental in structuring the merger that resurrected a struggling company and became a highly successful military contractor. Force Protection has received over one billion dollars in orders from the US Military to date for its MRAP vehicles.
Daniel Medina, President of Medina International Holdings, Inc., commented, "Rao is once again back in the boat business, this time with Medina." He added, "We have surrounded ourselves with some of the same team members that Rao worked with at Sonic Jet, including myself. Our goals at Medina are to try and match the success that Force Protection has had in the MRAP space, in the marine space. We believe we have a fantastic product, in a niche market with unmet demand. As long as we can continue to generate interest and orders we should enjoy rapid growth and expansion for our business."
According to Peter Eisler, author of the USA Today article, "When U.S. forces stormed into Iraq in March 2003, the people at Force Protection had more experience selling boats than military trucks."
The company traces its roots to Sonic Jet Performance, Inc., a California speed boat company founded in 1997. When the boat business hit tough times after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, company officials began looking for a new product, says Madhava Rao Mankal, then Sonic Jet's chief financial officer.
"They had just gotten a $25,000 investment from Frank Kavanaugh, a principal with the equity investment firm Ashford Capital, and he'd committed to raise far more. In return, he got a 20% stake in the business."
Around that time, Mankal heard about Garth Barrett, a former Rhodesian military officer who had a company, Technical Solutions, that was building a new type of mine-resistant vehicle.
"The heavily armored trucks featured a V-hull design that deflected underbody blasts away from the passenger compartment, and Barrett had seen them save lives in Africa's bush wars. He'd licensed the rights from the South African manufacturer to produce two U.S. models: the Buffalo, a huge, mine-clearing truck, and the Cougar, which was smaller and more versatile.
"Their company was struggling, so we... took it over," Mankal recalls. "The world was in chaos, there was terrorism, and we felt there was a big market for that product." |
