CHICAGO – PayLink Direct and Olive.com, affiliated businesses and leaders in payment services and online vehicle protection plans, today announced that they will go public in a business combination with MDH Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: MDH).
The new public company, Olive.com, will be a combination of two proven growth platforms: Olive.com’s current digital vehicle protection plan platform and PayLink Direct’s current industry leading payment services operation. PayLink Direct, founded in 2006 by CEO Rebecca Howard, has a 15-year track record of profitability and will become a division of Olive.com. The company continues to grow with over 345,000 new customers on the combined platform in 2020 and expects to have approximately 850,000 new customers by 2023.
Upon completion of the business combination, CEO Rebecca Howard will become CEO of the new public company and MDH’s Executive Chairman, Franklin McLarty, a proven business builder with deep experience in the automotive and transportation sectors, will become its Chairman. Upon the close of the proposed transaction, the combined company will be named Olive Ventures Holdings, Inc. and be called Olive.com. It will be listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “OLV.”
With a heritage rooted in America’s Heartland, Olive.com will serve the vehicle protection plan needs of customers across the U.S. and Canada. This proposed transaction represents the logical next step in Olive.com’s growth journey, providing access to capital to fuel growth, increase long-term profitability and extend its leadership in the payment services and vehicle protection market.
The proposed transaction values Olive.com at an initial pro-forma enterprise value of approximately $960 million. Following the completion of the business combination, the cash in trust and the investment from PIPE investors will allow Olive.com to expand and continue to deliver its product offerings to a growing $260 billion addressable market -- including 280 million total cars on the road today, 87 million of which are between 6-12 years old. Research shows that the average age of a car on the road hit a record high of 12.1 years during the pandemic, with 25% of cars aged 16 years or older. This trend is expected to continue, and an increasingly aged fleet will drive the need for vehicle service and mechanical breakdown coverage. Olive.com provides an essential product for consumers at a time when at least 33% of car owners could not afford $500 to $600 in automotive repairs and 60% would have difficulty covering a $1,000 repair expense.
