NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
OSLO, NORWAY – 28 October 2020 –
Reference is made to the stock exchange announcement from Zwipe AS ("Zwipe" or the "Company") dated 27 October 2020 with the preliminary results of the subsequent offering of up to one million new shares (the "Subsequent Offering"), each with a nominal value of NOK 0.10 and at a subscription price of NOK 15.00 (the "Offer Shares").
The subscription period for the Subsequent Offering expired on 27 October 2020 at 16:30 hours (CET). By the end of the subscription period, the Company had received valid subscriptions for 4,073,802 Offer Shares.
The board of directors of Zwipe has today resolved the allocation related to the Subsequent Offering in accordance with the allocation criteria presented in the prospectus dated 19 October 2020. A total of 740,736 Offer Shares were allocated based on subscription rights and a total of 259,264 Offer Shares were allocated based on over-subscriptions of 1,829, 982 new shares made by holders of subscription rights. No Offer Shares were allocated to subscriptions of 1,503,084 new shares made by investors without subscription rights.
Furthermore and in order to complete the Subsequent Offering, the board of directors has resolved the capital increase pertaining thereto, and hereunder resolved to increase the share capital with NOK 100,000 through issuing 1,000,000 new shares each with a nominal value of NOK 0.10 and at a subscription price of NOK 15 per share, giving gross proceeds of NOK 15 million. The resolution was made by the board of directors on basis of the authorization granted by the general meeting on 29 September 2020.
The following primary insiders or close associates of primary insiders have been allocated Offer Shares in the Share Issue.
The Company will on 29 October distribute allocation letters with payment information to all subscribers who have been allocated Offer Shares. The due date for payment is on or about 30 October 2020. Delivery of the Offer Shares is expected to take place on or about 6 November 2020, through the facilities of VPS and Euroclear. Trading in the Offer Shares on Merkur Market or Nasdaq First North Growth Market (as the case may be) is expected to commence on or about 6 November 2020. Arctic Securities AS acts as manager in the Subsequent Offering. Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS acts as Norwegian legal counsel to Zwipe and White & Case acts as Swedish legal counsel to Zwipe.
Zwipe AS is obliged to make this information public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market and Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8 528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 16:50 CET on 28 October 2020.
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This release is issued for information purposes only, and this document is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to purchase or subscribe for shares. Copies of this document may not be sent to jurisdictions, or distributed in or sent from jurisdictions, in which this is barred or prohibited by law. The information contained herein shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful absent registration, or an exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any jurisdiction. This document is not for publication or distribution in, directly or indirectly, Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States or any other jurisdiction in which such release, publication or distribution would be unlawful, and it does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities in such countries or in any other jurisdiction. In particular, the document and the information contained herein should not be distributed or otherwise transmitted into the United States or to publications with a general circulation in the United States of America. This document is not an offer for sale of securities in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The Company does not intend to register any part of the offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering in the United States of the shares to which this document relates. The Managers are acting for the Company in connection with the Private Placement and no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to the Private Placement or any transaction or arrangement referred to in this press release. This announcement and any materials distributed in connection with this announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect Zwipe's current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of material factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. This information is subject to a duty of disclosure pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
OSLO, NORWAY – 27 October 2020 –
(Oslo, 27 October 2020) Reference is made to the stock exchange announcement from Zwipe AS ("Zwipe" or the "Company") dated 20 October 2020 relating to the subsequent offering and listing of up to one million new shares in the Company, each with a nominal value of NOK 0.10 (the "Offer Shares"), at a subscription price of NOK 15.00 per Offer Share (the "Subscription Price") to be carried out by the Company (the "Subsequent Offering").
The subscription period for the Subsequent Offering expired today, 27 October 2020, at 16:30 hours (CET). At the expiry of the subscription period, the Company has received subscriptions for approximately 4.1 million Offer Shares from eligible shareholders in the Subsequent Offering and other investors and the Subsequent Offering has accordingly been significantly oversubscribed.
The allocation of the Offer Shares will be resolved by the board of directors in accordance with the allocation criteria set out in the prospectus dated 19 October 2020 section 5.8. The board of directors will consider the subscriptions and allocations of Offer Shares and resolve the capital increase pertaining to the Subsequent Offering on 28 October 2020. The final results of the Subsequent Offering will be published shortly thereafter. Letters regarding allocation of Offer Shares and the corresponding subscription amount to be paid by each eligible shareholder who has subscribed for Offer Shares in the Subsequent Offering will be distributed on or about 28 October 2020. The subscription amount for the Offer Shares is expected to fall due on or about 30 October 2020 as further described in the allocation letters.
Arctic Securities AS acts as manager in the Subsequent Offering. Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS acts as Norwegian legal counsel to Zwipe and White & Case Advokat AB acts as Swedish legal counsel to Zwipe.
Zwipe AS is obliged to make this information public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market and Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8 528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 20:30 CET on 27 October 2020.
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This release is issued for information purposes only, and this document is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to purchase or subscribe for shares. Copies of this document may not be sent to jurisdictions, or distributed in or sent from jurisdictions, in which this is barred or prohibited by law. The information contained herein shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful absent registration, or an exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any jurisdiction. This document is not for publication or distribution in, directly or indirectly, Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States or any other jurisdiction in which such release, publication or distribution would be unlawful, and it does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities in such countries or in any other jurisdiction. In particular, the document and the information contained herein should not be distributed or otherwise transmitted into the United States or to publications with a general circulation in the United States of America. This document is not an offer for sale of securities in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The Company does not intend to register any part of the offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering in the United States of the shares to which this document relates. The Managers are acting for the Company in connection with the Private Placement and no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to the Private Placement or any transaction or arrangement referred to in this press release. This announcement and any materials distributed in connection with this announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect Zwipe's current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of material factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. This information is subject to a duty of disclosure pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
OSLO, NORWAY – 20 October 2020
During the third quarter, Zwipe has continued to strengthen its foundation for mass-volume roll out of biometric payment cards.
André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said:
“During the third quarter Zwipe has continued to take significant strides in cementing our position in the global payment ecosystem and towards commercialization.
We have maintained momentum in expanding our network of smart card manufacturing customers while also growing our capacity to support larger-scale deployment of our commercial offering in 2021. In addition to the new customers that have been announced, the strategic technical partnerships we have formed this quarter will be instrumental in preparing the biometric payment card industry for efficient scaling.
By implementing numerous cross-industry commercial collaborations we are creating an offering that sets us apart. Zwipe’s objective is to deliver a solution that offers both technology and cost leadership to our smart card manufacturing customers. In addition, we also advise card issuers on how to simplify the value proposition of biometric payment solutions by supporting the entire process of launching a new biometric payment product. This approach further raises the attractiveness of our offering and elevates our position as a trusted advisor and enabler.
This market position has also generated strong support from international institutional investors, translating into a successful private placement carried out during the period. We raised gross MNOK 96, funding the company through commercial launches in 2021 and beyond. The chairman of the Board participated in the private placement with MNOK 5, and since his purchase was subject to approval by the extraordinary general meeting, this was registered in October. The general meeting also enabled us to initiate the process for the repair issue of up to 1,000,000 new shares to be held in October, as announced today, October 20th.
After the period we entered a commercial partnership with TietoEVRY, which marks a significant milestone for Zwipe. Thanks to TietoEVRY’s deep relations with virtually all banks in the Nordics and Baltics, we see strong potential in supporting the launch of biometric payment cards powered by Zwipe Pay ONE in this region and beyond, meaningfully increasing our sales capacity and impact. The fact that TietoEVRY is now actively going after the biometric payment card market with Zwipe is a further validation of our belief in the market to come and that Zwipe will have a major role and position in that market.
With these exciting developments pushing Zwipe forward we are further strengthening our team to be ready to serve a mass-volume market. Consequently, we have completed several key recruitments within quality management, project management, certification, sales, and product management. In addition, as we are seeing that our pull strategy and professional service offerings receive strong interest from our customers and partners, we are bringing in additional resources that will anchor this emerging business vertical for Zwipe. With a passionate, ever stronger team moving together towards our goal, and with institutional investors backing our vision, I am confident that we will keep this momentum while we continue to enhance our ability to create value for our customers, our shareholders, and for society at large.”
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Zwipe AS is obliged to make this information public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8 528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 08:00 CET on 20 October 2020.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
OSLO, NORWAY – 20 October 2020 –
Reference is made to the stock exchange announcement by Zwipe AS ("Zwipe" or the "Company") on 7 September 2020, regarding the successfully completed private placement with gross proceeds of approximately NOK 96 million (the "Private Placement"). In the said release, the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") announced that it intended to carry out a subsequent offering of up to 1,000,000 new shares (the "Offer Shares" and the "Subsequent Offering") towards shareholders of the Company who was not allocated shares in the Private Placement, provided that an extraordinary general meeting to be convened without delay made a new authorization to the Board to issue shares to strengthen the Company's equity. Such authorization was provided to the Board by the extraordinary general meeting on 29 September 2020. On this basis, the Board has now decided to proceed with the Subsequent Offering.
In the Subsequent Offering, Eligible Shareholders, being shareholders of the Company as of 7 September 2020, and consequently registered in the Company's shareholders' registers in VPS or Euroclear Sweden AB ("Euroclear") on 9 September 2020 (the "Record Date"), will be granted non-transferable subscription rights (the "Subscription Rights") that, subject to applicable law, provide preferential rights to subscribe for and be allocated Offer Shares at the Subscription Price (as defined below). Exceptions to the above are existing shareholders who (i) were allocated shares in the Private Placement and/or (ii) are resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful or, for jurisdictions other than Norway and Sweden, would require any filing, registration or similar action.
The subscription period in the Subsequent Offering commences today, on 20 October 2020 at 09:00 hours (CEST) and will end on 27 October 2020 at 16:30 hours (CET) (the "Subscription Period"). The subscription price in the Subsequent Offering is NOK 15.00 per Offer Share (the "Subscription Price"), which is equal to the subscription price in the Private Placement.
Eligible Shareholders will be granted 0.04366 Subscription Rights for each share in the Company registered as held by such Eligible Shareholder on the Record Date, rounded down to the nearest whole Subscription Right. Each whole Subscription Right provides a preferential right to subscribe for, and be allocated, one Offer Share at the Subscription Price, subject to applicable securities laws. Over-subscription and subscription without Subscription Rights is permitted, and over-subscriptions made by holders of Subscription Rights will in the allocation be prioritized before subscriptions made by holders without Subscription Rights, cf. the details on the allocation in the Prospectus (as defined below) section 5.8 "Allocation of Offer Shares".
In order to subscribe for shares, Eligible Shareholders must provide the Manager (as defined below) with a complete and duly signed application form within the end of the Subscription Period. Applications for Offer Shares by investors in Norway should be made using the application form attached to the Prospectus, while investors in Sweden should use the application form for the Swedish market made available in a separate document on the same websites as the Prospectus (www.zwipe.com and www.arctic.com/offerings). Norwegian citizens may also subscribe through the VPS online system. Further instructions regarding the subscription procedure is available in the Prospectus (as defined below) section 5.7 "Application procedures". The Subscription Rights must be used to subscribe for Offer Shares before the expiry of the Subscription Period on 27 October 2020 at 16:30 hours (CET). Subscription Rights that are not used to subscribe for Offer Shares before 16:30 hours (CET) on 27 October 2020 will have no value and will lapse without compensation to the holder.
Completion of the Subsequent Offering is subject to (i) the Board resolving the Subsequent Offering and allocating the Offer Shares, and (ii) registration of the capital increase pertaining to the Subsequent Offering with the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises.
Notifications of allocation in the Subsequent Offering are expected to be issued on or about 28 October 2020. The due date for payment of allocated Offer Shares is on or about 30 October 2020. Delivery of the Offer Shares is expected to take place on or about 6 November 2020, through the facilities of VPS and Euroclear. Trading in the Offer Shares on Merkur Market or Nasdaq First North Growth Market (as the case may be) is expected to commence on or about 6 November 2020.
A prospectus dated 19 October 2020 (the "Prospectus") prepared in connection with the Subsequent Offering will be available electronically at www.zwipe.com and www.arctic.com/offerings, or by contacting Arctic Securities AS. Please also find the Prospectus attached hereto. The Prospectus has been approved by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway and border-crossed to Finansinspektionen in Sweden for use in the Swedish market.
Arctic Securities AS acts as manager in the Subsequent Offering (the "Manager"). Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS acts as Norwegian legal counsel to Zwipe and White & Case Advokat AB acts as Swedish legal counsel to Zwipe.
Zwipe AS is obliged to make this information public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market and Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8 528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 07:55 CET on 20 October 2020.
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This release is issued for information purposes only, and does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States, or any other jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful or would require registration or other measures. The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"). The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act. The Company does not intend to register any portion of the offering of the securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of the securities in the United States. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may not be distributed or sent into Australia, Canada, Japan or the United States.
The issue, subscription or purchase of shares in the Company is subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. Neither the Company nor the Manager assumes any responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions.
The distribution of this release may in certain jurisdictions be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this release comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
The Manager is acting for the Company and no one else in connection with the Subsequent Offering and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to the Subsequent Offering and/or any other matter referred to in this release.
Forward-looking statements: This release and any materials distributed in connection with this release may contain certain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect the Company's current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of material factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
OSLO, NORWAY – 19 October 2020 – Zwipe, a leading biometric fintech company, is pleased to confirm, following significant market traction recently, that it has today placed an order for 300,000 units of IDX3405 next generation fingerprint sensors from IDEX Biometrics, a leading provider of fingerprint identification technologies. The sensors will support the rollout of Zwipe Pay ONE to a growing list of smart card manufacturers and issuers in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Asia.
In April this year, Zwipe announced that it has selected IDEX as its preferred sensor partner for Zwipe Pay ONE biometric payment card solution. The selection was based on comprehensive evaluations of performance and costs.
The Zwipe Pay ONE solution with IDEX’s next generation fingerprint sensor will be released for customer pilots in the fourth quarter of 2020 followed by mass-volume deployment in 2021.
“Zwipe has a fast-growing global customer network of smart card manufacturers and service providers that have selected Zwipe Pay ONE. Our pipeline of prospective customers and partners grows even faster. We are excited about the strong interest that Zwipe Pay ONE has attracted so far. Working with strategic suppliers such as IDEX we are confident that Zwipe Pay ONE will be the one of the best and most cost-efficient offerings in the market,” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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About IDEX Biometrics ASA
IDEX Biometrics ASA (OSE: IDEX and OTCQB: IDXAF) is a leading provider of fingerprint identification technologies offering simple, secure and personal authentication for all. We help people make payments, prove their identity, gain access to information, unlock devices or gain admittance to buildings with the touch of a finger. We invent, engineer, and commercialize these secure, yet incredibly user-friendly solutions. Our total addressable market represents a fast growing multi-billion-unit opportunity.
For further information contact:
Marianne Bøe, Investor Relations
E-mail: marianne.boe@IDEXbiometrics.com
Tel: + 47 918 00186
OSLO, NORWAY – October 15, 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Inkript, a digital security provider in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region and a subsidiary of Resource Group, announce that they have launched a joint project to deliver the next generation contactless payments experience, Zwipe Pay ONE, to banks across the Middle East.
“Since we announced our partnership with Zwipe, and as a result of the surge in contactless payments, our customers are increasingly demanding safer and more secure payment options; more so today with the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on people’s actions towards the nature of cash. It is undoubtedly that security, convenience and contactless are the future of payments, and banks are ready to dive into new technologies that support consumers’ changing behaviors towards money, hygiene, comfort, and overall wellbeing”, says Riad Itani, Managing Director at Inkript.
He added: “Biometric payment cards powered by the Zwipe Pay ONE platform are the most compelling way to address this demand, in terms of both performance and cost. We are enthusiastic to take this next step with Zwipe.”
Inkript has placed an order to Zwipe, commencing small scale manufacturing of biometric payment cards based on the Zwipe Pay ONE platform with the goal of launching pilots, followed by mass-volume deployments with multiple banks in 2021.
“Inkript is a distinguished provider of smartcards and value-added services to some of the largest banks in the MEA. We are excited and proud that Inkript has selected Zwipe Pay ONE as its preferred biometric payment card platform and are now taking action together with us to provide secure payments solutions in the Middle East region,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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About Inkript
Inkript is a digital security solutions provider catering to governments, telecom operators and financial institutions in the MEA region. The company’s growth is driven by an extensive R&D and continuous investments in emerging technologies. Inkript is distinguished by its state-of-the-art factories, technology competence centers, customized integrated solutions and international certifications covering processes, quality and security.
Media Contact for Inkript: Ms. Ghina Ramadan, +9611412000 ext. 2931, gramadan@resource.group
OSLO, NORWAY– 14 OCTOBER 2020 – Biometric fintech company, Zwipe, and areeba, one of the Middle East’s leading financial technology companies and payment service provider, are partnering to bring Zwipe Pay ONE enabled biometric payment solutions to banks across the Middle East and North African markets. Zwipe Pay ONE will be a market leading solution since it will combine a disruptive single chip secure element and a next generation sensor with a fingerprint registration process supported by a mobile app.
areeba and Zwipe have a long-standing collaboration, launching the first biometric payment card pilots in the Middle East and winning the Seamless Award for Best Technological Innovation in Payments for that joint project.
“We are happy to take this next big step with Zwipe, a well-known brand in biometric payments. Their disruptive Zwipe Pay ONE platform and 100% focus on biometric payment solutions complements our strong relations and end-to-end payments offering to banks and merchants across the region. We pride ourselves on being innovators and, together with Zwipe, we will give banks a new perspective on how to drive deeper customer engagement and acquisition by offering safer and more secure payments,” says Maher Mikati, CEO at areeba.
As part of this collaboration areeba has agreed to work exclusively with Zwipe in delivering biometric payment solutions including the Zwipe Experience services to help its banking customers through all stages, from early trial stage to mass market rollout.
“We are proud that areeba has now decided to roll-out biometric payments and selected Zwipe Pay ONE as its platform for doing so. We have worked closely together to introduce and strengthen the business case of biometric payments in the region and we are happy to see the market moving towards larger scale adoption,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
The two companies have engaged multiple smart card manufacturing partners to support the volume deployment of biometric payments, expected to start in 2021 and grow exponentially over the following years.
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This is information that Zwipe AS is obliged to make public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 14:45 CET 14 October 2020.
About areeba
areeba is an electronic payment technology company licensed by Visa and MasterCard and has an agreement with American Express. Established in 2017, areeba adopts the latest technologies and provides solutions and payment services to banks, governments and merchants to suit their aspirations and needs.
areeba offers services tailored to global requirements, from card issuance and management, non-contact payment solutions, contactless and mobile payment. It also provides merchants and governments with the latest e-commerce platform and point-of-sale machines that adopt the highest standards and safety systems. areeba operates a wide range of loyalty programs, including: collecting points and miles, cashback programs, and providing consultancy services for the planning, design and development of electronic products and payment solutions.
For more information, visit www.areeba.com, or @areebalebanon on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. areeba media contact: Nouchka El Hage, +961-1-954325 - NHage@areeba.com
OSLO, NORWAY AND HELSINKI, FINLAND – 08 OCTOBER 2020 – Biometric fintech Zwipe and TietoEVRY, the leading provider of software and digital banking services in the Nordics, have agreed to jointly roll-out biometric payment solutions based on the Zwipe Pay ONE platform.
With the recent surge in demand for safer and more secure payments, TietoEVRY is embracing biometric payment innovations that enable more hygienic, secure and convenient payments for consumers.
“We are excited to roll-out the Zwipe Pay ONE platform in close collaboration with Zwipe, a pioneer and innovator in biometric payments. We selected Zwipe as the most interesting partner for mass market deployment. Together, we will support banks to roll-out biometric payment cards and wearables at scale. From recent discussions with issuers, we already see broad interest for such innovations. Clearly, now is the time to take action,” says Jarmo Rouhiainen, Head of TietoEVRY Card Production and Personalization Services.
As part of this commercial agreement, Zwipe will provide TietoEVRY with technical support towards biometric payment card integration, enrollment solutions, and a complete end-to-end advisory offering aimed at helping banks successfully deploy biometric payment solutions. TietoEVRY will source their Zwipe Pay ONE-based cards through their network of card manufacturers.
“Partnering with TietoEVRY is a significant milestone for Zwipe. TietoEVRY’s deep relations with a large number of banks in the Nordics, Baltics and beyond will be a strategic complement to Zwipe’s technology leadership, accelerating the deployment of next generation contactless payments. Partnering closely with one of Europe’s strongest players in payment services, we are further showcasing the value-add we deliver to the ecosystem,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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This is information that Zwipe AS is obliged to make public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 12:00 CET on 8 October 2020.
OSLO, NORWAY– 29 September 2020 – The Extraordinary General Meeting in Zwipe AS (Company) was held today. All proposed resolutions were approved unanimously in accordance with the call for the meeting. The minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting are included as an attachment. The complete proposal, which was approved by the Extraordinary General Meeting, is available on www.zwipe.com for further reference. The attendants of the EGM represented 10,2% of the votes in the company.
The following resolutions were made:
Approval of capital increase directed against the chair of the Board
The general meeting resolved to approve the board's use of the authorization to increase the share capital to strengthen the Company's equity to issue and allocate 333,333 shares to the chair of the board of directors in the board meeting on 7 September 2020 on the terms that were stated in the company’s announcement on 7 September 2020.
Board authorizations and instructions to the Board regarding use of the authorization to issue shares to increase the company's equity
The Board proposed that a new authorization for the Board on capital increases are issued, to cater for strengthening of the Company's equity, including to facilitate for a potential repair issue (extract, please refer to the attachment to the notice for the complete proposal).
The Extraordinary General Meeting resolved to approve that the General Meeting granted a new authorization to the Board to issue shares corresponding to up to 10% of the share capital after both the capital increases under the Private Placement have been completed. The new authorization shall be restricted to issue shares to strengthen the Company's equity to the extent the Board considers this to be in the Company's best interest at the given time.
The authorization shall remain in force until the end of the annual general meeting 2021, however not beyond 30 June 2021. The pre-emptive right of the shareholders to subscribe may be set aside.
Resolution to amend the provision in the articles of association on notice period for the general meeting
The general meeting resolved to amend article 10 of the articles of association so that the notice period to the general meeting (ordinary and extraordinary) is 7 days.
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This is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, on 29 September, 2020 at 13:30 CEST
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards and wearables that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 528 00 399
For more information contact: Lars Kristian Solheim, CFO, +47 991 66 135 ir@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 14 September 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Cardmatix Ltd., a leading supplier of card manufacturing equipment, are partnering to collaborate on the design, development and commercialization of equipment and modular solutions to support milling and embedding of fingerprint sensors for biometric payment card manufacturing at mass volumes.
Headquartered in Dongguan, China, Cardmatix is a leading player in the development of industrial manufacturing and testing equipment specifically for mass production of payment cards.
“We have cooperated closely with Zwipe through our sister company Silone Cardtech, and we are convinced the biometric payment card market is poised for mass-volume take-off. Our industrial solutions will make smart card manufacturers’ job of producing millions of biometric payment cards much more cost-efficient thanks to the unique insights shared by Zwipe’s technical team,” said Cardmatix CEO, Mr. John Wu.
Zwipe has a long-standing collaboration with Silone Cardtech. The Chinese market is expected to see strong payment card growth with many established stakeholders fast-tracking their capacity to support demand.
“This is an important step in preparing our supply chain and global capacity to meet future demand. Cardmatix is one of the world’s most well-established high-volume card manufacturing equipment providers and we are excited to broaden our ability to serve our customers with their strong support.” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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About CardMatix Ltd.
Cardmatix was established in 2002 to focus on the manufacturing of equipment for the production and testing of contact, contactless, and dual-interface smart cards for the world market. With 20 years’ experience in design, manufacturing, and marketing on smart card production related machineries, Cardmatix has been one of the leading solution providers worldwide in the card industry with durable, high speed machines engineered for easy maintenance and years of reliable service.
For more information contact: John Wu, CEO +86 0769 86855889
OSLO, NORWAY - 08 September 2020- The board of directors of Zwipe AS call for an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on 29 September 2020 at 10:00 CET.
Please find enclosed the notice of the Extraordinary General Meeting.
Notice of attendance, in person or by proxy, shall be given no later than 28 September 2020 at 16:00 CET. Shareholders are encouraged to register via the following link here.
Alternatively, the attached form may be sent by e-mail to genf@dnb.no, or regular post to DNB Bank ASA, Verdipapirservice, NO-0021 Oslo.
The board of directors (the "Board") has proposed the following agenda:
Proposed decisions from the Board and the Nomination Committee (extracts only, please see the attachments to the notice for the full proposals)
Matter no. 4: Approval of capital increase directed against the chair of the Board
The general meeting resolved to approve the board's use of the authorization to increase the share capital to strengthen the Company's equity to issue and allocate shares to the chair of the board of directors in the board meeting on 7 September 2020.
Matter no. 5: Proposal to issue a new authorization to the Board to strengthen the Company's equity
As the Board has used the registered authorization to strengthen the Company's equity to complete the Private Placement, the Board proposes that the general meeting resolves to issue a new authorization to the board to increase the Company's equity (including to facilitate for a potential repair issue).
The board of directors is hereby granted authorization to increase the company's share capital, on one or several occasions, with up to NOK 319,065.80 (3,190,658 new shares), equivalent to 10% of the share capital after the Private Placement has been completed.
The authorization may be used to issue shares to strengthen the company's equity to the extent the board of directors considers this to be in the company's best interest at the given time.
Matter no. 6: Proposal to amend the provision in the articles of association on notice period for the general meeting
The notice period to the general meeting (ordinary and extraordinary) is 7 days, from 21 days in the company’s articles of association prior to this meeting.
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About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards and wearables that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
For more information, please contact:
Lars Kristian Solheim, CFO
+47 991 661 35
This is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 15:20 CET on 08 September 2020.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THE PRESS RELEASE.
OSLO, NORWAY – 07 September 2020 – Reference is made to the stock exchange release from Zwipe AS (“Zwipe” or the “Company”) published earlier this evening regarding a contemplated private placement.
The Company is pleased to announce that it has raised approximately NOK 96 million in gross proceeds through a private placement (the "Private Placement") of 6,381,315 new shares (the "New Shares"), at a price of NOK 15 per share. The Private Placement took place through an accelerated book building process managed by retained Arctic Securities AS and Erik Penser Bank AB (publ) as joint bookrunners (together the "Managers") after close of markets on 7 September 2020. The Offer Shares were placed to international institutional investors and existing shareholders of the Company.
The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to fund further development and commercialization of the Company, general operating cost and strategic investments.
André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said: "After completion of this private placement, Zwipe is funded through commercial launches in 2021 and beyond based on the current business plan and market assumptions. We now look forward to taking a leading role in the biometric payment space and embarking on a long journey of value creation for our customers, our shareholders and society at large.”
Jörgen Lantto, chairman of the board of directors of Zwipe (“the Board”) said: “We are humble and proud to receive overwhelming support from high quality international and Nordic institutional investors, considerably strengthening our shareholder base. In particular, the new funding will allow the company to further accelerate our commercial activities to cater for the strong demand from smart card manufacturers and card issuers for Zwipe Pay ONE, our new technology platform for biometric payment cards”.
The payment date for the Offer Shares will be on or about 10 September 2020, with delivery of the Offer Shares expected on or about 14 September 2020. The Offer Shares will be tradable following the registration of the share capital increase in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises expected to take place on or about 14 September 2020, and trading is expected to commence simultaneously at Merkur Market and Nasdaq First North Growth Market on or about 14 September 2020.
The completion of the Private Placement was subject to approval by the Board pursuant to an authorisation to increase the share capital given by the annual general meeting held on 14 May 2020.
Following registration of the new share capital pertaining to the Private Placement, the Company will have 31,906,576 shares outstanding, each with a par value of NOK 0.10.
Primary insider Jörgen Lantto, chairman of the Company, was allocated 333,333 shares in the Private Placement. Mr. Lantto's shareholding after completion of the rights issue will be 866,666 shares. The allocation of shares to Jörgen Lantto is subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting.
Primary insider Energetic AS, owned by André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, was allocated 20,000 shares in the Private Placement. Following this transaction, André Løvestam owns 500,000 shares in the Company through Energetic AS.
Primary insider Lars Kristian Solheim, CFO of Zwipe, was allocated 20,000 shares in the Private Placement. Following this transaction, Lars Kristian Solheim owns 90,000 shares in the Company.
Primary insider Bishwajit Choudhary, EVP of Strategy and Channels of Zwipe, was allocated 20,000 shares in the Private Placement. Following this transaction, Bishwajit Choudhary owns 25,500 shares in the Company.
Primary insider Dr. Robert Mueller, CTO of Zwipe, was allocated 20,000 shares in the Private Placement. Following this transaction, Dr. Robert Mueller owns 48,572 shares in the Company.
Primary insider Eric Mercer, CEO of Zwipe America Inc., was allocated 5,500 shares in the Private Placement. Following this transaction, Eric Mercer owns 5 500 shares in the Company.
The Board will shortly call for an extraordinary general meeting, to be held on or about 29 September 2020 (“the EGM”), which will be requested, inter alia, to make a new authorisation to the Board to issue shares to strengthen the Company's equity. Provided that the EGM provides the authorisation, it is the Board's intention to use this to carry out a subsequent offering of up to NOK 15 million / 1,000,000 shares towards shareholders of the Company as of 7 September 2020 (as registered in the VPS and Euroclear Sweden AB) who (i) were not allocated Offer Shares in the Private Placement, and (ii) are not resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful, or would (in jurisdictions other than Norway and Sweden) require any prospectus, filing, registration or similar action. Such shareholders will be granted non-transferable subscription rights to subscribe for, and, upon subscription, be allocated new shares. One subscription right will entitle the holder to subscribe for one share in the Subsequent Offering. Oversubscription and subscription without rights will be allowed. The subscription price in the Subsequent Offering will be the same as the subscription price in the Private Placement. The Subsequent Offering will, if approved, commence after a prospectus describing the Subsequent Offering has been approved by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway. The Board may at its discretion decide not to proceed with the Subsequent Offering.
The Board has considered the offering of new shares in Private Placement in light of the equal treatment obligations under the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market and Oslo Børs' Circular no. 2/2014, and is of the opinion that the contemplated transaction is in compliance with these requirements. The Board of Directors concluded that the waiver of the preferential rights inherent in a private placement was considered necessary in the interest of time and successful completion of the share issue. The Private Placement will allow the Company to raise capital faster, with a lower discount and with significantly lower transaction costs than what a rights issue would entail, and it will also allow for the Company to strengthen its shareholder base to the benefit of the shareholders and the Company. On this basis, and based on an assessment of the current equity markets, the Board has considered the Private Placement to be in the common interest of the Company and its shareholders. As a consequence of the Private Placement structure, the shareholders' preferential rights will be deviated from.
Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS is acting as legal advisor to Zwipe with respect to Norwegian law, White & Case Advokat AB and Kanter Advokatbyrå KB are acting as legal advisor with respect to Swedish law.
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards and wearables that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
For further information please contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 ir@zwipe.com
This is information that Zwipe AS is obliged to make public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8 528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 23:50 CET on 7 September 2020.
###
This release is issued for information purposes only, and does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States, or any other jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful or would require registration or other measures. The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"). The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act. The Company does not intend to register any portion of the offering of the securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of the securities in the United States. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may not be distributed or sent into Australia, Canada, Japan or the United States.
The issue, subscription or purchase of shares in the Company is subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. Neither the Company nor the Managers assume any responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions.
The distribution of this release may in certain jurisdictions be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this release comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
The Managers are acting for the Company and no one else in connection with the Private Placement and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to the Private Placement and/or any other matter referred to in this release.
Forward-looking statements: This release and any materials distributed in connection with this release may contain certain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect the Company's current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of material factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THE PRESS RELEASE.
OSLO, NORWAY – 07 September 2020 – Zwipe AS (“Zwipe” or the “Company”) has retained Arctic Securities AS and Erik Penser Bank AB (publ) as joint bookrunners (the "Managers") to advise on and effect a private placement of up to 6,381,315 new shares (the “Offer Shares”) equal to 25% of the outstanding shares in the Company, directed towards Norwegian and international investors, in each case subject to and in compliance with applicable exemptions from relevant registration, filing and prospectus requirements, and subject to other applicable selling restrictions (the "Private Placement"). The Managers have prior to launch received indications of demand covering the transaction size.
Jörgen Lantto, chair of the Company’s Board of directors (“the Board”), has committed to subscribe for new shares in the Private Placement for a subscription amount of NOK 5 million, subject to approval by an extraordinary general meeting in the Company to be convened shortly after allocation of the Private Placement (the "EGM").
André Løvestam, CEO, Lars Kristian Solheim, CFO, Bishwajit Choudhary, EVP of Strategy and Channels, and Dr. Robert Mueller, CTO, have all committed to subscribe for 20 000 new shares each in the Private Placement. Eric Mercer, CEO of Zwipe America Inc, has committed to subscribe for 5 500 new shares in the Private Placement.
The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to fund further development and commercialization of the Company, general operating costs and strategic investments. After completion of this private placement, Zwipe is funded through commercial launches in 2021 and beyond based on the current business plan and market assumptions.
The subscription price and number of Offer Shares to be issued in the Private Placement will be determined by the Board following an accelerated book building process. The minimum application and allocation amount have been set to the NOK equivalent of EUR 100,000. The Company may however, at its sole discretion, allocate an amount below EUR 100,000 to the extent applicable exemptions from the prospectus requirement pursuant to the EU Prospectus Regulation (as implemented in Norway by the Norwegian Securities Trading Act and through similar legislation in other EEA states) are available.
The book building period for the Private Placement commences today at 17:30 CEST and closes 7 September 2020 at 21:00 CEST. The Managers and the Company may, however, at any time resolve to close or extend the book building period, or cancel the Private Placement, at their sole discretion and on short notice. If the book building period is shortened or extended, any other dates referred to herein may be amended accordingly. Allocation of the Offer Shares will be determined at the end of the book building period, and the final allocation will be made by the Board at its sole discretion, following advice from the Managers. Notice of allocation of Offer Shares is expected to be sent to the investors on or about 8 September 2020.
The payment date for the Offer Shares will be on or about 10 September 2020, with delivery of the Offer Shares expected on or about 14 September 2020. The Offer Shares will be tradable following the registration of the share capital increase in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises expected to take place on or about 14 September 2020, and trading is expected to commence simultaneously at Merkur Market and Nasdaq First North Growth Market on or about 14 September 2020.
The completion of the Private Placement is subject to approval by the Board of the Company pursuant to an authorization to increase the share capital given by the annual general meeting held on 14 May 2020.
The Board has considered the offering of new shares in Private Placement in light of the equal treatment obligations under the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market and Oslo Børs' Circular no. 2/2014, and is of the opinion that the contemplated transaction is in compliance with these requirements. The Board of Directors concluded that the waiver of the preferential rights inherent in a private placement was considered necessary in the interest of time and successful completion of the share issue. The Private Placement will allow the Company to raise capital faster, with a lower discount and with significantly lower transaction costs than what a rights issue would entail, and it will also allow for the Company to broaden its shareholder base to the benefit of the shareholders and the Company. On this basis, and based on an assessment of the current equity markets, the Board has considered the Private Placement to be in the common interest of the Company and its shareholders. As a consequence of the Private Placement structure, the shareholders' preferential rights will be deviated from.
The Private Placement is directed towards investors subject to applicable exemptions from relevant prospectus requirements (i) outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “US Securities Act”) and (ii) in the United States to "accredited investors" as defined in the US Securities Act Rule 501(a), acquiring the Offer Shares for investment purposes for its own account, or pursuant to another exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act.
The Board will consider to carry out a subsequent offering of new shares in the Company (the “Subsequent Offering”) which, subject to applicable securities laws, will be directed towards existing shareholders in the Company as of 7 September 2020 (as registered in the VPS and Euroclear Sweden AB on 9 September 2020) who (i) were not allocated Offer Shares in the Private Placement, and (ii) are not resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful, or would (in jurisdictions other than Norway and Sweden) require any prospectus, filing, registration or similar action. The subscription price in a potential Subsequent Offering will be equal to the subscription price in the Private Placement.
Existing shareholders that participate in the Private Placement will irrevocably undertake to vote for their shares in favor of the resolution(s) proposed at the EGM to issue shares to Jörgen Lantto and the potential Subsequent Offering.
Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS is acting as legal advisor to Zwipe with respect to Norwegian law, and White & Case Advokat AB and Kanter Advokatbyrå KB are acting as legal advisors with respect to Swedish law.
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards and wearables that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more visit www.zwipe.com
For more information contact André Løvestam, CEO +47 991 66 135 ir@zwipe.com
This is information that Zwipe AS is obliged to make public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 17:40 CET on 7 September 2020.
###
This release is issued for information purposes only, and does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States, or any other jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful or would require registration or other measures. The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"). The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act. The Company does not intend to register any portion of the offering of the securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of the securities in the United States. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may not be distributed or sent into Australia, Canada, Japan or the United States.
The issue, subscription or purchase of shares in the Company is subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. Neither the Company nor the Managers assume any responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions.
The distribution of this release may in certain jurisdictions be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this release comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
The Managers are acting for the Company and no one else in connection with the Private Placement and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to the Private Placement and/or any other matter referred to in this release.
Forward-looking statements: This release and any materials distributed in connection with this release may contain certain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect the Company's current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of material factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
OSLO, NORWAY – 27 August 2020, CET 09:40 – Zwipe AS today publishes its half-year report for H1 2020.
The update is with reference to the EU Market Abuse Regulations
Highlights for first half-year 2020 include:
Financials
Second Quarter
First Half Year
Significant events during the period
Significant actions after the period
CEO comment
The first half of 2020 has been very productive, and a period marked by progress and major achievements for Zwipe. At a time when the public is particularly attuned to the benefits of social distancing, the payment ecosystem has increasingly embraced the need for secure, contactless payment technologies. COVID-19 has been a game-changer for market acceptance of the need for truly touchless payment solutions such as those offered by Zwipe.
The year began with Zwipe successfully listing on Nasdaq’s First North Growth Market in Sweden, boosting liquidity and investor awareness through access to a broader investor community.
We continued building our end-to-end ecosystem, expanding our customer network globally, forging several new strategic technical partnerships, securing important orders and extending exclusive partnerships. All of this while continuing to make progress on our previously announced key projects, Zwipe Pay ONE with IDEMIA and IDEX, and the wearables project with Giesecke+Devrient (G+D).
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the focus on safety and significantly increased the growth of contactless transactions. This, in turn has led to raised contactless transaction limits all over the world and has served to highlight the improved hygiene and safety benefits of biometric payments. During 2020, the first announcements of upcoming small-scale commercial launches of biometric payment cards to consumers have been made, proving that the industry is ready to start serving a mass market.
We believe we hold the key to the next step of broad-scale, high-volume adoption of biometric payment cards through our cooperation with IDEMIA on Zwipe Pay ONE, which will reduce manufacturing cost for biometric payment cards to a level that enables card issuers to start mass-volume deployment.
Consequently, we are doubling down our efforts to serve the market, with immediate results. As previously announced, we have an ongoing dialogue with more than 40 out of the world’s top 50 smart card manufacturers. During H1 2020 we have seen very good progress in our sales pipeline. We have announced that five new smart card manufacturers have decided to adopt Zwipe Pay ONE once it is available for early sampling, planned for later in 2020, and our prospect list and pipeline are continuously increasing. These are the clearest indications of demand for our solutions.
During the period we also began to engage directly with issuers and banks. Early insights suggest that a sizable number of consumers are willing to pay a meaningful monthly fee for biometric payment cards. We have been able to initiate fruitful engagements with multiple banks on how to profitably deploy biometric payment cards to consumers in large scale. This has strongly resonated across the payments and cards ecosystem, creating a wave of interest in what we uniquely offer to the marketplace.
Zwipe builds its competitive position on combining cost and performance leadership with our value-adding trusted advisor/systems integrator role. This combination is the cornerstone in Zwipe’s ambitions towards mass market deployments of Biometric Payment Cards and wearables.
In the second half of 2019 we streamlined costs and lasered in on core processes to achieve mass-volume market readiness for Zwipe. Our progress in recent months is proof that we are on the right path. Our technology partnership with IDEMIA has secured Zwipe world-wide, exclusive ownership to a disruptive technology platform with superior energy efficiency and excellent biometric performance, positioning Zwipe for cost- and technology leadership.
Leveraging the deep systems know-how of our organization, we are also teaming up with other component suppliers and manufacturing partners to further simplify adoption and reduce the total cost of Zwipe Pay ONE. I am excited by the results of these efforts, which secure our ability to meet the aggressive cost targets we have set for Zwipe Pay ONE. We remain on track with regards to the development of Zwipe Pay ONE, having met all significant milestones during the period. We are confident that our cost leadership strategy is enabling us to bring a very compelling offering to our customers, while laying the foundation for a sound long-term business and value creation for Zwipe as the market matures.
Thanks to the experience gained from being fully dedicated to Biometric Payment Cards from the outset, we are a trusted advisor to smart card manufacturers and card issuers, advising them on what is needed to launch Biometric Payment Cards including user experience and customer onboarding.
This comprehensive approach makes Zwipe stand-out in the crowd. Zwipe’s uniqueness is in the combination of our know-how, network, patents and technology. We make the entire process of evaluating, building, integrating, and deploying a biometric payment solution simple. We provide the components and build the inlays necessary for the smart card manufacturers. We are building an ecosystem of partners to enable card manufacturers and issuers a frictionless route to launching Biometric Payment Cards. This cooperative approach is central to supporting the growth of the overall Biometric Payment Card market, but also key to cementing Zwipe’s position and role. By giving banks and issuers, alongside our smart card manufacturing partners, a one-stop shop for the most cost effective and compelling route to launching an innovative, rapidly deployable contactless payment solution, we are building a commercial path that creates sustainable long-term value for our customers.
Cardholders and consumers around the world are demanding greater safety and security when paying for goods, and they want convenience too, which is the background for our mission of “making convenience safe and secure”. I am confident that we are on track to deliver on our mission and fulfil our pivotal role in supporting our many communities tackle the risks posed by COVID-19 at the point of sale.
###
This is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 09:40 CET on 27 August 2020.
OSLO, NORWAY – 27 August 2020, CET 08:00 – Zwipe AS today publishes its half-year report for H1 2020.
Highlights for first half-year 2020 include:
Financials
Second Quarter
First Half Year
Significant events during the period
Significant actions after the period
CEO comment
The first half of 2020 has been very productive, and a period marked by progress and major achievements for Zwipe. At a time when the public is particularly attuned to the benefits of social distancing, the payment ecosystem has increasingly embraced the need for secure, contactless payment technologies. COVID-19 has been a game-changer for market acceptance of the need for truly touchless payment solutions such as those offered by Zwipe.
The year began with Zwipe successfully listing on Nasdaq’s First North Growth Market in Sweden, boosting liquidity and investor awareness through access to a broader investor community.
We continued building our end-to-end ecosystem, expanding our customer network globally, forging several new strategic technical partnerships, securing important orders and extending exclusive partnerships. All of this while continuing to make progress on our previously announced key projects, Zwipe Pay ONE with IDEMIA and IDEX, and the wearables project with Giesecke+Devrient (G+D).
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the focus on safety and significantly increased the growth of contactless transactions. This, in turn has led to raised contactless transaction limits all over the world and has served to highlight the improved hygiene and safety benefits of biometric payments. During 2020, the first announcements of upcoming small-scale commercial launches of biometric payment cards to consumers have been made, proving that the industry is ready to start serving a mass market.
We believe we hold the key to the next step of broad-scale, high-volume adoption of biometric payment cards through our cooperation with IDEMIA on Zwipe Pay ONE, which will reduce manufacturing cost for biometric payment cards to a level that enables card issuers to start mass-volume deployment.
Consequently, we are doubling down our efforts to serve the market, with immediate results. As previously announced, we have an ongoing dialogue with more than 40 out of the world’s top 50 smart card manufacturers. During H1 2020 we have seen very good progress in our sales pipeline. We have announced that five new smart card manufacturers have decided to adopt Zwipe Pay ONE once it is available for early sampling, planned for later in 2020, and our prospect list and pipeline are continuously increasing. These are the clearest indications of demand for our solutions.
During the period we also began to engage directly with issuers and banks. Early insights suggest that a sizable number of consumers are willing to pay a meaningful monthly fee for biometric payment cards. We have been able to initiate fruitful engagements with multiple banks on how to profitably deploy biometric payment cards to consumers in large scale. This has strongly resonated across the payments and cards ecosystem, creating a wave of interest in what we uniquely offer to the marketplace.
Zwipe builds its competitive position on combining cost and performance leadership with our value-adding trusted advisor/systems integrator role. This combination is the cornerstone in Zwipe’s ambitions towards mass market deployments of Biometric Payment Cards and wearables.
In the second half of 2019 we streamlined costs and lasered in on core processes to achieve mass-volume market readiness for Zwipe. Our progress in recent months is proof that we are on the right path. Our technology partnership with IDEMIA has secured Zwipe world-wide, exclusive ownership to a disruptive technology platform with superior energy efficiency and excellent biometric performance, positioning Zwipe for cost- and technology leadership.
Leveraging the deep systems know-how of our organization, we are also teaming up with other component suppliers and manufacturing partners to further simplify adoption and reduce the total cost of Zwipe Pay ONE. I am excited by the results of these efforts, which secure our ability to meet the aggressive cost targets we have set for Zwipe Pay ONE. We remain on track with regards to the development of Zwipe Pay ONE, having met all significant milestones during the period. We are confident that our cost leadership strategy is enabling us to bring a very compelling offering to our customers, while laying the foundation for a sound long-term business and value creation for Zwipe as the market matures.
Thanks to the experience gained from being fully dedicated to Biometric Payment Cards from the outset, we are a trusted advisor to smart card manufacturers and card issuers, advising them on what is needed to launch Biometric Payment Cards including user experience and customer onboarding.
This comprehensive approach makes Zwipe stand-out in the crowd. Zwipe’s uniqueness is in the combination of our know-how, network, patents and technology. We make the entire process of evaluating, building, integrating, and deploying a biometric payment solution simple. We provide the components and build the inlays necessary for the smart card manufacturers. We are building an ecosystem of partners to enable card manufacturers and issuers a frictionless route to launching Biometric Payment Cards. This cooperative approach is central to supporting the growth of the overall Biometric Payment Card market, but also key to cementing Zwipe’s position and role. By giving banks and issuers, alongside our smart card manufacturing partners, a one-stop shop for the most cost effective and compelling route to launching an innovative, rapidly deployable contactless payment solution, we are building a commercial path that creates sustainable long-term value for our customers.
Cardholders and consumers around the world are demanding greater safety and security when paying for goods, and they want convenience too, which is the background for our mission of “making convenience safe and secure”. I am confident that we are on track to deliver on our mission and fulfil our pivotal role in supporting our many communities tackle the risks posed by COVID-19 at the point of sale.
###
This is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 08:00 CET on 27 August 2020.
OSLO, NORWAY– August 20th, 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Wisecard Technology, a leading supplier of EMV personalization and payment solutions, have partnered to support the industrialization of biometric payments solutions.
Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, Wisecard Technology Ltd. specializes in personalization software development, primarily focusing on the smart card payment industry. As a leading provider of EMV personalization services, the company will support the co-development of personalization offerings for the Zwipe Pay family of products and solutions.
“We are excited to work closely with Zwipe to tap into the huge potential we see for biometrics in the payments market. Zwipe has led the way in establishing a global network of partners to make the launch of biometric payment cards and wearables at scale as effortless and cost-effective as possible. We are keen to support this mission and bring safer and more secure payment options to consumers around the world,” says, Kevin Yi, Vice President at Wisecard.
Smart card manufacturers will benefit from the collaboration by having access to a validated and proven personalization process for their biometric payment cards powered by Zwipe technology.
Speaking on the partnership André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, says “We are excited to partner with Wisecard as we continue to expand our ecosystem and our capacity to provide the most comprehensive and compelling offerings within biometric payments to smart card manufacturers and issuers, further cementing the value-add we bring to our customers.”
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About Wisecard Technology
Wisecard Technology Co , Ltd. is a solution provider for smart card issuance and innovative payment platforms with more cost effective and user friendly features. Wisecard has invested heavily on technological innovation and product development. This has resulted in the creation of leading solutions in the area of Card Management and Personalization, payment systems, which have been compliant with the regulations from international payment schemes. Wisecard has always had a strong customer service focus and built leading edge professional services organization, delivering high class product and process support around the world. After a decade of providing cost-effective, innovative and vendor independent solutions that enable customers to improve their operational processes, Wisecard has successfully deployed solutions in more than 60 countries throughout Europe, Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia and South America.
To learn more, please visit www.wisecardtech.com
For more information contact: Kevin Yi, Vice President, + 86 755 86007346 sales@wisecardtech.com
OSLO, NORWAY– 18 August 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Smart Technology Services (STS), one of the world’s first equipment manufacturers to develop a biometric payment card milling and embedding enabled system, have expanded their previously announced partnership to support the industrialization of dual interface biometric payment cards using Zwipe Pay ONE platform.
Headquartered in France, STS is a leading player in the development of industrial manufacturing equipment specifically for the production and personalization of smart cards. The two companies have jointly developed integrated solutions that will enable Smart Card Manufacturers (SCMs) to achieve a risk-free and agile industrialization of biometric payment cards.
“Zwipe has been one of the leaders in the development of biometric payment platforms while we have developed manufacturing processes to enable SCMs to successfully reach a true volume offer capability for such cards. We have worked very closely together over the last year to fine-tune our complementary offering in order to support smart card manufacturers as they adopt and begin to roll out cards based on the Zwipe Pay ONE platform,” said Thierry Buisson, CEO of STS, speaking on the ramping up of activities.
“Our expanded partnership with STS has mitigated project risks and reduced the capital expenditure needed to enable the production of biometric payment cards. This will further strengthen our respective positions in the market and accelerate the adoption of biometric payment cards,” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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About Smart Technology Services
Founded in 2013 in France, Smart Technology Services provides high level support services and card personalization solutions to card manufacturers and bureaus worldwide. The company provides services support activities for card central issuance systems and secondhand systems It also supplies the Smart Evol 1000 – a fully modular mid-range card personalization system, and the SI20 and SI700 – versatile card production systems for contact, dual interface, and biometric cards.
Please visit http://stservices.fr for further information
OSLO, NORWAY– 28 JULY 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Liveo Research, a major supplier of PVC materials to some of the world’s largest card manufacturers, have partnered to offer a highly optimized route to efficient and scalable manufacturing of biometric payment cards. This is key in supporting the ongoing industrialization of the Zwipe Pay family of products.
Liveo Research is a global manufacturer of rigid packaging solutions focusing on pharma packaging innovations, specialty films and card solutions. With around 1,100 employees across five locations worldwide, Liveo is generating annual sales of more than 350 million euros.
“We are excited to collaborate with Zwipe, a pioneer in the field of biometric payment cards, to promote and roll out the Zwipe Pay ONE platform that will radically reduce the cost and complexity associated with card production process”, says Managing Director at Liveo Research, Mr. Pietro Parmeggiani.
Speaking on the partnership André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe says, “This showcases how Zwipe is leveraging the payment ecosystem’s key players to enable best-in-class solutions and grow the biometric payment card segment. Liveo Research is a strong stakeholder and working together we will be able to further strengthen the value proposition to smart card manufacturers.”
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About Liveo Research
Since 1953 Liveo Research’s Castiglione facility has been at the forefront of technological innovation in vinyl calendaring. Decades of commitment to manufacturing quality and enhanced rigid films properties has given Liveo’s card manufacturers the extra edge to easily move into new niche market with even newer technological requirement. Today, Liveo’s SICO films are sought after for high quality secure payment cards, e-government, IoT SIM/GSM, M2M, access controls cards, where they withstand daily handling while maintaining a pristine appearance and data integrity. Liveo Research SICO films are available globally with two primary manufacturing sites, Castiglione, Italy, where it all began and, Delaware City, DE, USA. To learn more, visit www.liveoresearch.com
For more information contact: cs.eu@liveo-research.com
