RE: Nasdaq Requirements5 Sep 2021 12:13
The Agreement delivers on the following strategic objectives:
- the Bank will remain independent, owned by the Financial Partner and the Co-investors. Supply@ME will not be a Bank shareholder and it has no costs relating to the transaction. Control of key operational roles will be given to The AvantGarde Group who will be responsible for selecting the Bank's CEO, whilst governance supervision will be overseen by the Financial Partner
- the Bank will provide "banking-as-a-service" to Supply@ME in relation to:
o subscribing to all funding note issuances in line with the Bank's capital adequacy targets which have already been agreed,
o funding across Supply@ME Group's international operating regions, subject to country specific banking licence restrictions, and
o co-investing with institutional investors in securitisation notes issued by the Platform, in order to provide additional funds for inventory monetisation, in accordance with the Company's multi-channel funding strategy
- the Bank's indicative cumulative inventory funding targets are estimated at:
o EUR4bn by the end of 2021
o EUR5.5bn end 2022
o EUR7bn end 2023
o EUR8bn end 2024
- the funding costs to Supply@ME will be lower than the current costs borne by the Platform for its "open funding" securitisation
- the Bank will also be the "partner and banker of trust" for SYME, whereby all bank accounts set up for inventory monetisation transactions will be held at the Bank. This will serve to reinforce monitoring processes, digital integration and security
- the Bank can hold up to 2% of SYME share capital, including purchases through the market subject to MAR and other regulatory approvals
The Central Bank regulatory approval processes relating to the acquisition of the Bank are underway with the support of the local banking regulator. However, until such regulatory and contractual processes have been completed, the parties have stipulated that the name of the Bank and Financial Partner cannot be announced. The Financial Partner is a regulated investment manager in Europe which operates in the private equity and private debt markets. It has raised and invested more than EUR2 billion from institutional and retail investors.