Medina International Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: MIHI)
Medina International Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: MIHI) produces commercial fire, rescue, police and patrol boats utilizing the highest design and performance standards. The company’s products combine safety, power, handling and stability with a proprietary hull design and equipment features that address specific niche markets.
With approximately 241,500 miles of waterways in the United States alone, opportunities for fire, search and rescue, and patrol boats are abundant. Assuming the need for 1 boat for every 10 miles of waterway, the potential addressable domestic market for Medina’s products is $2.4 billion. International demand is even greater than domestic demand, which presents exponential growth opportunities for the company
Market
Commercial boats of various sizes, particularly those used for patrol search and recovery, offer the company a niche market. Numerous counties in the United States have some type of water body within their boundaries, which creates a large domestic market for the company’s commercial boats. Of the 3,536 counties in the United States, a significant number are located in coastal regions. Because of the high cost of many commercial boats, few municipalities have adequate search and recovery, patrol, or fire fighting boats as part of their fleet. The Company’s commercial boats offer a cost effective solution for municipalities with limited funds and an unaddressed need. This coupled with the approximately 241,524 miles of waterways in the United States alone represents an addressable market of over $2.4 billion.
Homeland Security
One of the largest opportunities for business expansion and profits in the boat industry is the Homeland Security sector, including: Defense, surveillance, and emergency response boats for municipalities and state governments. This includes serving and protecting the open coastline, harbors, bays, waterways, private industrial sites and ports. Government spending on homeland security issues have been increasing for sometime. MIH is confident that it leads the market in affordable, quick-response boats. The boats manufactured by the Company help address the specific needs of the security and defense markets’ increased demand for protection.
Company Highlights
Medina’s boats will be offered to the coast guard, offshore patrol agencies, local fire and police departments and the military. The boats are most often utilized in rescue missions on lakes, inter-coastal waterways, and rivers (where shallow water entry is needed). The boats combine power, safety, handling and stability and the company believes that its patented hull designs make the boats safer and more stable. The company is very excited about its prospects for the commercial segment of the tactical boat market. The company is also currently developing boats which will be offered to the military and department of homeland security. Medina’s goal is to be the military’s number one provider of fast-response tactical boats.
Business Strategies
MIHI is positioning to achieve significant market penetration to the rapidly growing Homeland Security, fire, rescue, and patrol markets for municipalities, oil and chemical refiners, and government agencies. Through personal presentation, consultation, and collaboration with government agencies, municipalities, and national foundations, MIH will be providing boats for law enforcement, rescue, and fire department and private organizations. The company has already developed significant interest in its products and has recently begun shipping products to customers. The Company will continue to market its products through expositions, training, agency certifications, and demonstrations. The Company’s marketing strategy will include displaying and demonstrating the boats at regional, national and international boat shows, and at local waterways throughout the United States, and advertising its boats in boat, fire protection, law enforcement magazines and on the internet.
Prior Executive Experience
Rao Mankal, now CFO and Director for MIH, found and put together the deal that made shareholders of his previous company, Force Protection (NMS: FRPT), money. Their stock went from roughly $1 to $30 in a few years and is now over $17. The following segment is from an article in the August 2, 2007 USA Today.
Started as speed boat maker
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.”
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