LAS VEGAS, July 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Global Consumer Acquisition Corporation announced today the hiring of George A. Rosenbaum, Jr. as its Principal Accounting Officer and as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of GHC's wholly owned subsidiary 1st Commerce Bank upon the consummation of the acquisitions. Rosenbaum has nearly 30 years working as a banking executive, including prior experience as Chief Financial Officer of a bank, experience working with de novo groups, as well as with government entities.
As was previously disclosed on July 14th, post closing, GCAC will be the largest recapitalization of a newly formed commercial bank holding company by a SPAC in US history, and be re-named Western Liberty Bancorp (which will be listed under the symbol WLBC). WLBC will become a bank holding company and its banking operations will be conducted through its newly acquired subsidiary, which will retain the 1st Commerce Bank name. 1st Commerce Bank will have 22 branch locations in the State of Nevada. WLBC will have approximately $477 million of Gross Loan Assets, $320 million of Transaction Account Deposits and $214 million in Time Deposits, with residual brokered deposits of less than $13 million.
Since May 2007, Mr. Rosenbaum has served as a consultant for various financial entities, including two groups starting de novo banks. In conjunction with these activities he prepared financial projections, and drafted significant portions of the various applications. He also completed an assignment for a multi-billion dollar bank in the areas of asset liability management, interest rate risk modeling and liquidity forecasting. This included reviewing policies, procedures, documenting model assumptions and the applicable risk assessments.
From August 2003 to February 2007, Mr. Rosenbaum, served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the Board of Directors of First Federal Bank of the Southwest, Inc. From May 2002 to August 2003, Mr. Rosenbaum served as Chief Financial Officer of Illini Corporation, a publicly traded $280.0 million bank holding company. From July 2000 to May 2002, Mr. Rosenbaum worked as Senior Audit Manager at McGladrey & Pullen LLP, working primarily on accounting and audit matters relating to financial institutions.
"We expect that George Rosenbaum's experience and record will assist our already deep management team in growing our bank, and increasing valuation for investors. We expect he will be the first of a number of senior executives we plan on hiring to drive value, and increase efficiency for investors and consumers alike," said Jason Ader, future Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Western Liberty Bancorp. "We are quite excited about the future, for organic growth and potential acquisitions. Mr. Rosenbaum's previous experience as a bank CFO and experience working with federal assisted banking agreements will be beneficial from day one."
"I am pleased to find a home with Global Consumer Acquisition Corporation and am confident we will experience success. Today's banking, and financial realities will require a team with many levels of experience, and our executives possess a wide range of skills," said George A. Rosenbaum, Principal Accounting Officer and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of GCAC's wholly owned subsidiary 1st Commerce Bank, post acquisition. "Additionally, Nevada is a tremendously favorable state and I look forward to working hand in hand to ensure success for our investors and consumers. I look forward to working hand in hand to ensure success for our investors, employees and customers."
About Global Consumer Acquisition Corporation
Global Consumer Acquisition Corp. is a blank check company organized for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset or stock acquisition, exchangeable share transaction, joint venture or other similar business combination with one or more domestic or international operating businesses.
Additional information and Where to Find It
GCAC intends to file a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the special meeting of the GCAC stockholders to approve the proposed transactions (the "Special Meeting Proxy Statement"). Stockholders of GCAC and other interested persons are advised to read, when available, the Special Meeting Proxy Statement in connection with GCAC's solicitation of proxies for the special meeting because they will contain important information. The Special Meeting Proxy Statement will be mailed to GCAC stockholders as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed transactions. Stockholders will also be able to obtain a copy of the Special Meeting Proxy Statement without charge, by directing a request to: Global Consumer Acquisition Corp., 1370 Avenue of the Americas, 28th floor, New York, New York 10019, Attention: Mr. Andrew Nelson. Free copies of these documents, once available, can also be obtained, without charge, on GCAC's website or at the SEC's internet site (<http://www.sec.gov/> <http://mail.5wpr.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.sec.gov> > ).
In addition to the proposed Special Meeting Proxy Statement, GCAC files annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. Free copies of these documents can be obtained, without charge, on GCAC's website or at the SEC's internet site (http://www.sec.gov/ <http://mail.5wpr.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.sec.gov> > ). GCAC, 1st Commerce Bank, Capitol Development, Colonial Bank and their respective directors, executive officers, affiliates and other persons may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies for the special meeting of GCAC stockholders to be held to approve the proposed transactions. Additional information regarding the interests of potential participants will be included in the proxy statement and other materials to be filed by GCAC with the SEC.
PARTICIPANTS WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE SPECIAL MEETING PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER MATERIALS TO BE FILED BY GCAC WITH THE SEC
Risks and Uncertainties; Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipates," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements contained in this report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us and speak only as of the date of such statement. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated.
These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, (i) the risk that the businesses of GCAC and 1(st) Commerce and the assets of the Nevada branch franchise of Colonial Bank will not be integrated successfully or such integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected; (ii) expected revenue synergies and cost savings from the acquisitions may not be fully realized or realized within the expected time frame; (iii) revenues following the acquisitions may be lower than expected; (iv) deposit attrition, operating costs, customer loss and business disruption following the acquisitions, including, without limitation, difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees, may be greater than expected; (v) the ability to obtain governmental and regulatory approvals of the acquisitions on the proposed terms and schedule; (vi) the failure of our shareholders to approve the acquisitions; (vii) local, regional, national and international economic conditions and the impact they may have on us upon consummation of the acquisitions and our customers and our assessment of that impact; (viii) changes in interest rates, spreads on earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, and interest rate sensitivity; (ix) prepayment speeds, loan originations and credit losses; (x) sources of liquidity; (xi) our common shares outstanding and common stock price volatility; (xii) fair value of and number of stock-based compensation awards to be issued in future periods; (xiii) legislation affecting the financial services industry as a whole, and/or the parties to the acquisition and their subsidiaries individually or collectively; (xiv) regulatory supervision and oversight, including required capital levels; (xv) increasing price and product/service competition by competitors, including new entrants; (xvi) rapid technological developments and changes; (xvii) our ability to continue to introduce competitive new products and services on a timely, cost-effective basis following the consummation of the acquisitions; (xviii) the mix of products/services; (xix) containing costs and expenses; (xx) governmental and public policy changes; (xxi) protection and validity of intellectual property rights; (xxii) reliance on large customers; (xxiii) technological, implementation and cost/financial risks in large, multi-year contracts; (xxiv) the outcome of pending and future litigation and governmental proceedings; (xxv) continued availability of financing; (xxvi) financial resources in the amounts, at the times and on the terms required to support our future businesses; and (xxvii) material differences in the actual financial results of acquisitions and acquisition activities compared with our expectations, including the full realization of anticipated cost savings and revenue enhancements. Additional factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found under the heading "Risk Factors" filed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. For further discussion of certain factors that may cause such forward-looking statements to differ materially from actual results, refer to GCAC's Form 10-K for fiscal year 2008 and other public documents are available on the SEC's internet site (<http://www.sec.gov/> <http://mail.5wpr.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.sec.gov> > ).
We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
CONTACT: RONN TOROSSIAN, 212-999-5585
Global Consumer Acquisition Corporation
CONTACT: Ronn Torossian, +1-212-999-5585
