AWH Capital, LP Encourages Purple to Reject Acquisition Proposal

December 18, 2022  by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry   

December 15, 2022
Via FedEx

Paul Zepf
Chairman of the Board
Purple Innovation, Inc.
4100 North Chapel Ridge Road, Suite 200
Lehi, UT 84043

Dear Paul,

We are stockholders of Purple Innovation, Inc. ("Purple"). We believe that Purple currently trades at a substantial discount to intrinsic value and could, over time, appreciate significantly. As such, we believe the recent acquisition proposal by Coliseum Capital Management meaningfully undervalues Purple and should be rejected.

In a challenging year for the mattress industry, Purple CEO Rob DeMartini and his team have achieved quarterly profitability while making significant improvements to its operating structure. These improvements include: focusing marketing spend on more effective channels; optimizing the manufacturing footprint; addressing balance sheet concerns; and completing an accretive acquisition that enhances the premium end of its product portfolio. The company is now preparing to launch new products that will increase the breadth of its offering and provide better differentiation between pricing tiers while reducing input costs.

The mattress industry is generally resilient over time and now appears to be stabilizing. We are pleased to see Rob DeMartini as CEO given his history of achievement as the CEO of New Balance, his understanding of the value of the Purple brand, and his focus on execution. Further, we have a strong degree of confidence in Purple's competitive positioning given its leadership role in the nascent but growing gel grid segment of the mattress industry.

We urge the company to fulfill its fiduciary duty to all stockholders and reject Coliseum's proposal.

Sincerely,

Austin Hopper                                                   Mason Bourne
AWH Capital, LP

AWH Capital, LP is a private investment partnership based in Dallas, Texas.
SOURCE AWH Capital