Byrna Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: BYRN) today announced that it has acquired the assets of Fox Labs International Inc. Fox Labs, which has been in business for more than 30 years, produces what is arguably the strongest pepper spray on the market today, catering primarily to law enforcement and other security professionals.
Byrna is acquiring substantially all the assets of Fox Labs International for $2.17 million from longtime owner and CEO, Ed Ferguson. Ed, who turned 75 this year, was looking for a buyer that shared his commitment to producing the highest quality products and had the resources to take Fox Labs to the next level. Byrna plans to build upon the very successful and profitable company that Ed grew and managed for almost 30 years.
Byrna intends to retain the Fox Labs brand as the brand has a stellar reputation with law enforcement and a loyal customer base of law enforcement dealers and agencies, many of whom have been using the Fox Labs pepper spray for decades. Fox currently offers 11 different SKU’s including it’s extremely popular “5.3”, which refers to 5.3 million SHU rating (Scoville Heat Units). In addition to these fast-acting oil-based sprays, Fox Labs also offers water-based sprays including “Mean Green”, which includes green dye to mark an assailant and “White Lightening” a clear spray that includes an ultra-violet dye. You can find the current Fox Labs offering at foxlabs.com.
Along with the acquisition, Byrna is acquiring the rights to Sudecon, the only truly effective pepper and tear gas neutralizing agent on the market. Sudecon, which is extremely popular with law enforcement, can clean up a suspect that has been sprayed with pepper (OC) and/or tear gas (CS). It both stops the pain and neutralizes any residual OC or CS on the suspect. It is also effective on Byrna Max and Byrna Pepper. Byrna has interested in developing a neutralizing agent for some time that can be used to clean up someone hit with a Byrna Max or Byrna Pepper round. Sudecon is just such a product. The Company believes that Sudecon will be of great interest to Byrna’s current law enforcement and civilian customers as well as to all consumers that carry pepper spray.
In addition to retaining Fox Labs’ current book of business with the Fox Labs brand, Byrna plans to draw on Fox Labs technology and 30+ years of experience to create its own line of Byrna branded sprays featuring the best in class Byrna Maximum Strength “Bad Guy Repellant” which will use both OC (pepper) and CS (tear gas) to subdue an attacker with maximum effect. Byrna expects that these branded sprays will be sold on Byrna.com as well as on Byrna’s Amazon store and through Byrna’s network of brick & mortar dealers.
While Byrna’s primary focus has been the direct-to-consumer market, Fox Labs’ primary focus has been law enforcement and corrections both domestically and abroad. As a result, Fox Labs sprays are widely recognized by law enforcement officers as one of the fastest acting and most effective sprays on the market and Fox Labs sprays are currently standard issue in hundreds of law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. In addition, Fox Labs sprays are sold through several premiere law enforcement dealers including Kroll, Galls and PS Security Products.
Bryan Ganz, CEO of Byrna, stated that “we have been looking to get into the defensive spray market for some time. Not only does it give us another personal self-defense product at a lower point on the “Continuum of Force,” but it gives us that very important price point product for consumers that are looking for effective self-defense tools but cannot afford a Byrna SD. What makes this acquisition so strategic is that we not only acquire a suite of complementary new products, but we also acquire hundreds of new law enforcement customers. In fact, not one of Fox Labs’ top 20 customers is currently a Byrna customer. We plan to use Fox Labs strong law enforcement presence to help drive growth in Byrna’s law enforcement division.”
Mr. Ganz continued, “By developing and offering a line of Byrna branded self-defense sprays, aptly named “Byrna Bad Guy Repellent” we believe that we can generate millions of dollars of incremental business from our current customer base. Byrna currently has more than 22,000 web sessions a day on Byrna.com and another 9,000 sessions a day on Amazon.com. In addition, Byrna has an email list of more than 225,000 opt-in subscribers and another 75,000 SMS text subscribers. We believe that a best-in-class self-defense spray will be of great interest to these members of Byrna Nation.”
Mr. Ganz continued, “Fox Labs is an ideal acquisition for Byrna as it meets all our M&A criteria. First, it produces a best-in-class product that is complementary to our current range of products. Second, there is enormous opportunity for growth as Fox Labs has never done any marketing, relying solely on word of mouth. Third, Fox Labs is, and has consistently been, profitable and will not be a drain on Byrna’s human or financial resources and fourth, we can easily fund the purchase from cash on hand without straining the balance sheet.”
As part of the acquisition strategy, Byrna hired industry veteran David Happe to serve as President of the newly created Self-Defense Aerosol Spray division. Happe was the former Executive Vice President of Mace pepper spray and most recently was a consultant to Fox Labs. His background includes 30 years in retail, first as a national buyer for Best Buy and then Walmart Stores, Inc. Happe was the lead consultant to Amazon when they opened their consumer electronics store. David then struck out on his own, creating a consumer products company, Vigilant, which he ultimately sold to Mace Security. Happe, who joined the Byrna team on May 23, 2022, is responsible for global sales of both the Byrna and Fox Labs branded self-defense sprays.
About Byrna Technologies Inc.
Byrna is a technology company, specializing in the development, manufacture, and sale of innovative non-lethal personal security solutions. For more information on the Company, please visit the corporate website here or the Company’s investor relations site here. The Company is the manufacturer of the Byrna® SD personal security device, a state-of-the-art handheld CO2 powered launcher designed to provide a non-lethal alternative to a firearm for the consumer, private security, and law enforcement markets. To purchase Byrna products, visit the Company’s e-commerce store.
