Vancouver, British Columbia (February 3, 2020) — PowerBand Solutions Inc. (TSXV: PBX) (OTCQB: PWWBF) (Frankfurt: 1ZVA) (“PowerBand“, “PBX” or the “Company”), has engaged Toronto-based Phoenix Corporate Finance Inc. (“Phoenix”) as its corporate finance advisory firm, to facilitate up to $250 million in credit facilities for the Canadian financing arm of PowerBand’s cloud-based platform to revolutionize the buying, selling and leasing of cars, trucks and other vehicles.
PowerBand has also engaged Phoenix to facilitate up to $10 million in non-dilutive operating capital for its newly created Canadian captive financing arm, which was announced January 15th, 2020.
The agreement advances PowerBand’s strategy to aggregate $1-billion in credit facilities and financing capacity, as it brings its cloud-based transaction platform to thousands of dealerships and consumers across Canada and North America.
Once raised, the $250-million credit facility will be available for Canadian transactions using the PowerBand platform, which will eliminate unnecessary middlemen, benefitting consumers, dealers and other stakeholders in auto retail, leasing and auctioning. The Company is negotiating further lease lines for Canada and the United States with other institutions.
“Once fully implemented, the PowerBand cloud-based transaction platform will enable people to buy, sell, trade or lease vehicles with the same ease you now buy a product on Amazon, in effect uberizing the experience of acquiring a truck or car,” said PowerBand CEO Kelly Jennings. “We believe the engagement of Phoenix, to raise a total of $260 million, is another milestone in our goal to raise $1-billion in credit facilities for leases and loans that will be approved through the PowerBand platform.”
PowerBand expanded its transaction platform by acquiring a majority share of MUSA Auto Finance, LLC (“MUSA”) in July, 2019. Founded in 2016, MUSA’s innovative transaction platform modernized the new and pre-owned vehicle leasing experience, providing dealers and consumers with the most advanced leasing options in the industry. The technology takes an application, calculates a lease, auto-decisions the application, provides an approval back to dealer partners and prefills a lease contract accurately. Approvals can occur in less than eight seconds. As a result of its proprietary technology, MUSA was awarded a contract by Tesla Motors to become a national leasing partner in 2018.
About PowerBand Solutions Inc.
PowerBand Solutions Inc. is a technology provider listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company’s cloud-based platform is revolutionizing how we buy, sell, lease, and auction vehicles. With the recent receipt of its exporter license and its acquisition of MUSA Auto Finance, the Company is now well positioned to become a leader in the USD$10 billion cross-border used vehicle export market, the USD$100 billion used vehicle auction market, and the USD$120 billion vehicle leasing market in the U.S. and Canada.
About Phoenix Corporate Finance Inc.
Phoenix Corporate Finance Inc. is an independently owned, mid-market corporate finance firm which provides professional financing advisory and procurement services to smaller corporations and project developers based in Canada. Phoenix specializes in assisting companies to facilitate senior, subordinated and convertible debt financing from non-institutional sources of capital.
For further information, please contact:
Richard Goldman, VP Corporate Development
P: 1-866-768-7653
[email protected]
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “will”, “may”, “should”, “anticipate”, “expects” and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.
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