SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct. 10, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Patient Safety Technologies' (AMEX:PST) affiliate Digicorp (OTCBB:DGCO) announced last week that it has entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire Rebel Crew Films, Inc., a Los Angeles-based film licensing and distribution company, owned and founded by Jay Rifkin and Cesar Chatel. As detailed in an 8-K filed on October 5, Rifkin will assume the role of Chairman and CEO upon completion of the acquisition. In the meantime, he will serve as Interim President and report to CFO William B. Horne, who, as of September 30, 2005, has replaced Milton "Todd" Ault III as Chairman and CEO of the Company. Mr. Ault is the Chairman and CEO of PST, Digicorp's largest shareholder.
Jay Rifkin brings more than 20 years of experience building successful media and interactive marketing companies, including Mojo Records, a joint venture with Universal Records that was ultimately sold to Zomba/BMG; Media Ventures, a creative entertainment cooperative that became an industry-leading source for original film and television music; and, Media Revolution, a cutting edge developer of advanced, integrated consumer marketing solutions whose clients include Sony, Warner Bros., Universal, and Twentieth Century Fox.
As a producer, song writer and engineer, Mr. Rifkin has collaborated on multi-platinum albums for such artists as Whitney Houston, Carly Simon, and Jimmy Buffett. His partnership with Hans Zimmer yielded three Academy Award-nominated scores: "The Preacher's Wife," "The Lion King" and "Rain Man." Rifkin's work on Disney's "The Lion King" drove soundtrack sales to more than 18 million copies worldwide, and the album earned him a Grammy Award (Best Children's Album) and an American Music Award (Favorite Pop/Rock Album).
"This development draws the Company closer to its goal of making PST a pure-play, healthcare company," commented Ault. "Digicorp is a legacy affiliate, acquired when the company was a BDC. Jay's proven leadership and execution abilities combined with Digicorp's innovative digital media assets are a strong match that we expect to contribute greatly to PST's bottom line."
"The opportunity for digital media companies like Digicorp is to provide new ways to attract the attention of an ever more selective and savvy media consumer," commented Rifkin. "Global media is facing the challenge of a new paradigm driven by time shifted delivery technology, where the consumer ultimately expects broader and on-demand access to content and services. Digicorp's podcasting technology is a good example of a nimble response to anticipated changes in consumer media habits."
About Patient Safety Technologies
Patient Safety Technologies, Inc. (PST) is a holding company that owns assets in various businesses, including healthcare, real estate and merchant banking. Its healthcare division owns SurgiCount Medical, a developer, manufacturer and provider of patient safety products and services. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the company's flagship product is its Safety-Sponge(tm) System, which helps in reducing the number of retained sponges and towels in patients during surgical procedures and allows for faster and more accurate counting of surgical sponges. For more information on Patient Safety Technologies, Inc., please contact the company directly at (310) 752-1416, or by email at investor.relations@patientsafetytechnologies.com or http://www.patientsafetytechnologies.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified as such because the context of the statement will include words such as Patient Safety Technologies "expects," "should," "believes," "anticipates" or words of similar import. Stockholders, potential investors and other readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are predictions based only on current information and expectations that are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause future events or results to differ materially from those set forth or implied by the forward-looking statements. Certain of those risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Patient Safety Technologies filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Patient Safety Technologies annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. These forward-looking statements are only made as of the date of this press release and Patient Safety Technologies does not undertake any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.