OSLO, NORWAY – 26 February 2020 – Zwipe AS today publishes its annual report 2019. Please find the report attached.
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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 Merkur Market, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency on the contact person set out below 08:00 CET on 26 February 2020
OSLO, NORWAY – 26 February 2020 – Zwipe AS today publishes its annual report 2019. Please find the report attached.
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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 Merkur Market, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency on the contact person set out below 08:00 CET on 26 February 2020
OSLO, NORWAY – 24 January 2020, 13:00- Zwipe AS has applied for admission to trading of the shares of Zwipe on Nasdaq First North Growth Market (First North), Stockholm. The application has today been approved by First North, subject to applicable distribution requirements (sw: spridningskrav) being satisfied. Based on share transfer commitments made at this time, Zwipe expects to fulfil such requirements.
Trading in Zwipe’s shares on First North will commence on 28 January 2020 under the ticker “ZWIPE”. The listing of Zwipe’s shares on Merkur market at Oslo Børs will be maintained until further notice. Zwipe does not intend to publish any further information prior to listing on First North.
André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, says “The listing on Nasdaq First North marks a milestone for Zwipe, one year after we listed on Merkur Market. We are excited that Zwipe will be trading in Stockholm, close to the majority of our shareholders. First North is a dynamic marketplace, and I am confident that the listing will benefit our shareholders and support Zwipe in its progress toward large-scale deployment of biometric payment authentication solutions."
Market making agreement
Zwipe and Erik Penser Bank AB (Erik Penser) have signed a market making agreement that meets the requirements of market making operations by First North. The market making agreement aims at supporting orderly trading conditions and a minimum threshold of liquidity for Zwipe’s shares on First North. Market making pursuant to the agreement will commence on 28 January 2020, the first day of trading in Zwipe’s shares on First North.
Supplementary document
In connection with the listing, Zwipe has published a supplementary document, available at www.zwipe.com.
Advisors
White & Case (SE) and Simonsen Vogt Wiig (NO) are legal advisors for Zwipe in connection with the listing on First North.
Zwipe’s Certified Adviser is FNCA, who may be contacted at tel +46 8 528 003 99 and email info@fnca.se
This is information that Zwipe AS is obliged to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out below, at 13:00 CET on 24 January 2020
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For further information please contact:
André Løvestam, CEO ir@zwipe.com +47 909 43 660
OSLO, NORWAY – 23 January 2020 - As communicated on 14 January 2020, Nasdaq First North Growth Market (First North) has confirmed that Zwipe AS fulfils the requirements for listing, subject to customary conditions. Today, 23 January 2020, Zwipe publishes a supplementary document to the prospectus in accordance with First North rules for application.
The supplementary document is available at www.zwipe.com. The supplementary document should be read together with the prospectus dated 4 December 2019 and prepared in connection with the Zwipe’s rights issue. The prospectus is also available at www.zwipe.com. The supplementary document is not a prospectus, has not been approved by any supervisory authority and does not contain any offering of shares or any other offering of financial instruments in Zwipe in Sweden or in any other jurisdiction.
First day of trading on First North in Stockholm is planned for Tuesday 28 January 2020, subject to final approval by First North and other customary conditions being met.
This information is made public in accordance with the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market and the First North rules for application.
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OSLO, NORWAY– 14 JANUARY 2020 – Biometric technology company Zwipe AS (Zwipe) today announces that it expects to list its shares for trading on Nasdaq First North Growth Market (First North) in Stockholm, under the ticker “ZWIPE". The first day of trading is planned for Tuesday 28 January 2020. First North has assessed Zwipe and confirmed that Zwipe fulfils requirements for listing, subject to customary conditions, including distribution requirements and final formal approval from First North. Zwipe will not issue new shares in connection with the Firth North listing.
Currently Zwipe is listed on Merkur Market at Oslo Børs under the ticker "ZWIPE-ME". Following the listing at First North, Zwipe will be dual-listed and traded on both markets until further notice. The ISIN number of Zwipe at both exchanges is NO0010721277.
Swedish and international shareholders who wish to transfer their shares for trading on First North are advised to contact their respective broker/nominee account manager for more information on the transfer. Such transfer means that Zwipe shares must be made available for trading through Euroclear Sweden (the Swedish central securities depository). Zwipe intends to facilitate transfer to Euroclear Sweden for its international investors during dedicated periods of time.
Norwegian shareholders and other shareholders wishing to continue trading their shares at Merkur Market at Oslo Børs do not need to take any action at this time.
André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe says” I am excited that Nasdaq First North has confirmed that Zwipe fulfils the listing requirements, subject to customary conditions being met, and that I can announce the expected listing at First North in Stockholm on January 28, thereby enabling a market for trading closer to a number of our shareholders. Nasdaq First North is a dynamic and growing market, and we are very pleased to welcome our shareholders to trading at First North in addition to Merkur Market."
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For more information please contact:
André Løvestam, CEO; +47 909 43 660; ir@zwipe.com
This information is made public in accordance with the continuing obligation of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market
On 4 December 2019 Zwipe AS announced its approved and published prospectus regarding rights issue.
Reference is made to the announcement made by Zwipe AS (the Company) on 10 November 2019 of the preferential rights issue of up to NOK 74.5 million by issuing up to 10,635,525 new shares in the Company, and the announcement of the approval by the extraordinary general meeting in the Company of the preferential rights issue on 2 December 2019.
The prospectus containing complete information regarding the rights issue and information about the Company was approved by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (NFSA) as competent authority under the EU Prospectus Regulation on 4 December 2019. It is published on Zwipe AS' website https://zwipe.com/investors and on the manager Erik Penser Bank AB (publ)'s website https://www.penser.se/corporate-finance/#pagaende-uppdrag.
The prospectus has been border-crossed to Sweden through notification from the NFSA to Finansinspektionen in Sweden meaning that the subscription period under the rights issue started as planned in Norway and Sweden on Thursday 5 December 2019 at 09:00 CET.
Further recent announcements regarding the rights issue, appointment of new CFO and insider transactions are available on Zwipe’s web site www.zwipe.com
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OSLO, NORWAY– 21 November 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe is pleased to unveil the Zwipe Experience at Trustech 2019, one of the leading global events dedicated to payments, identification and security.
The Zwipe Experience is a comprehensive mix of products and advisory services developed specifically to assist Zwipe’s customers, smart card manufacturers and issuers, to move from concept to mass market. The package features technical manufacturing support, issuer integration services and piloting support.
“We are leveraging the learning we have built over the last two years, having the most widely piloted technology platform in the biometric payment marketplace, to support our customers above and beyond delivering prelaminates, components and biometric inlays,” Zwipe CEO André Løvestam said, adding “focusing on user experience, we are confident that having the most dynamic service platform in addition to the most cost competitive technology offering will further strengthen our role in this market.”
Zwipe will be showcasing elements of the Zwipe Experience at the Multos Consortium exhibition, stand RIV C020.
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OSLO, NORWAY– 18 November 2019 – The Board of Directors of Zwipe AS has today resolved to approve management’s proposal for a streamlining program, enabled by the strategic collaboration agreement with Idemia. The program will focus the company’s activities, reduce staff and operational expenses, and enable underlying annual savings in excess of NOK 40 million.
The program is expected to be fully implemented in November 2019 and related one-off costs will be included in the Q4 results. The effects are expected to be realized from first quarter of 2020.
CEO André Løvestam comments: ”The product roadmap streamlining that we are now launching has been made possible thanks to the strategic collaboration with Idemia on a disruptive technology platform. We believe this innovation is a game changer and a catalyst for growth in the industry.
The new platform will integrate and simplify component design, drastically reducing costs of the product itself and the manufacturing process. As a result, a complete biometric payment card cost of below USD 10 is becoming realistic, providing an accelerated path to mass volumes while giving Zwipe a long-term cost leadership position.
Zwipe’s streamlined roadmap enables simplifying and focusing the company, while maintaining competent capacity to support our customers. In combination with the announced 90% guaranteed rights issue, we see a clear path toward commercializing our technology, with the required capital resources to get to that point.”
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OSLO, NORWAY– 10 November 2019 – The Board of Directors of Zwipe AS has today resolved to call for an extraordinary general meeting in the company on 2 December 2019 to resolve a rights issue of up to approximately gross NOK 74 million. The call for the extraordinary general meeting is attached to this notice.
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OSLO, NORWAY – 24 July 2020 – Primary insider Diderik Schonheyder, board member at Zwipe AS, has today acquired 5,000 shares at an average price per share of SEK 13,30. Diderik Schonheyder’s shareholding after the transaction is 5,000 shares.
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This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
OSLO, NORWAY– 6 JULY 2020 – It has been a busy and momentous last few months in the world of biometric payments. I am pleased to see how our partners and customers are strengthening their capacity to deliver next generation contactless payment solutions powered by biometric payments platforms from Zwipe. We observe first-hand an increasing awareness and interest from banks, local card schemes and even retailers that are sharing the view that biometric payments provide significant value to consumers.
What is happening in the marketplace?
Several “1st generation” biometric payment card platforms are now making their way towards the first small-scale commercial launches in 2020. These recent developments clearly signal that this technology will see commercial break-through, representing not only a means for banks to offer “peace of mind” to cardholders and achieve top-of-wallet effects, but also to realize a new source of revenue and value creation.
For fully understandable reasons, the payments ecosystem is by and large conservative, cost conscious and risk averse. This is why the biometric payments market has been long in the making.
Things are now changing, however. At an accelerating pace. Observing how the engagement and proactivity of our partners and the ecosystem are currently growing, I see clear indications that momentum is building, with awareness and interest increasing everywhere.
The team at Zwipe and myself are very excited by this progress.
Here is an overview of our recent major announcements:
It is all coming together
On the supply side, technology advancement, radical cost reduction and scalable production readiness are factors that make biometric payment a feasible proposition. On the demand side, COVID-19 has triggered growing demand and awareness for safe and hygienic payments in the entire society, with transaction limits raised in more than 40 countries worldwide to avoid unnecessary PIN entry and contactless payment rapidly growing everywhere. This builds on the already strong consumer interest for biometric payments before COVID-19, driven by the demand for convenience, security and the “coolness factor” derived from innovative solutions.
Our Zwipe Pay ONE platform is progressing as planned to deliver superior energy efficiency and excellent biometric performance at significantly lowered manufacturing cost thanks to advanced, single-chip innovation. Our confidence that this will be a very compelling proposition has grown further based on the series of recent awards given by smart card manufacturers for Zwipe Pay ONE to power their upcoming biometric payment cards.
Zwipe has pioneered biometric payment card technology and we now see commercial opportunities and engagements developing across the payment ecosystems. We see growing interest from smart card manufacturers, banks, payment schemes and retailers to see how Zwipe can help them to address consumer needs and concerns over contactless payments.
What Zwipe does goes far beyond the technology, it is about helping every stakeholder maximize the value that biometric payments can bring to society. As communicated in our PR on 2 June, we are complementing our collaboration with our direct customers, the smart card manufacturers, by actively stepping up our engagements with banks and neo-banks, as well as new players in card issuance, such as retailers and tech companies. I feel confident that this will accelerate our route to success while creating value for our customers, shareholders, and consumers.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank each member of my great team at Zwipe for their relentless efforts in Making Convenience Safe and Secure. On behalf of everyone at Zwipe, I wish all our customers, partners, shareholders and avid followers a safe and happy summer.
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BOLOGNA, ITALY and OSLO, NORWAY– 1 July 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Publicenter, Italy’s largest domestic smart card manufacturer, are pleased to announce the launch of a collaboration aimed at bringing the next generation contactless experience, powered by biometric payment cards and wearables to financial institutions and consumers across Europe.
Publicenter is a VISA and Mastercard certified smart card manufacturer, with over forty years of experience in card production and personalization. It delivers payment, loyalty and gift cards to major banking and retail customers in Italy and Europe.
“We have seen firsthand the potential of biometric payment cards and successful market trials in Italy, run on the Zwipe platform. With many of our customers asking for this product, we are confident that the partnership with Zwipe will be the most cost effective and time efficient route for us to offer this solution at scale” says CEO of Publicenter, Sandro Mucelli.
In Italy, 50% of all POS transactions processed were already contactless* pre-COVID 2019, and, as a result of increased transaction limits and an elevated focus on safety, this has grown since. With businesses beginning to open again, Publicenter plans to engage with customers to promote the value-add of biometric payment solutions.
“We are excited to work with Publicenter who have strong engagements with banks and retailers across Europe, including in our own home region of the Nordics. Working together, we will identify new commercial opportunities for both companies and implement a successful roll-out of Zwipe Pay ONE,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
*) Source: Europe; Spaargids.be; July 2018; Numbers concern payments processed by MasterCard
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About Publicenter
Publicenter has over forty years’ experience in high quality and cost-effective smart card production and personalization, being one of the leading card manufacturers in Europe. Main products are financial smart cards, loyalty/gift cards, and ID cards. Headquartered in Bologna, Italy, Publicenter is a Visa and Mastercard certified vendor for over 15 years. To learn more, visit www.publicenter.it
For more information contact: Sandro Mucelli, CEO, info@publicenter.it
OSLO, NORWAY – 29 June 2020 – Biometric fintech pioneer Zwipe and Thomas Greg and Sons do Brasil (TGS), one the largest smart card manufacturers in Latin America, are pleased to announce the extension of their exclusive partnership.
As part of uplifting the collaboration, TGS is commencing small scale manufacturing of biometric payment cards based on Zwipe’s platform, embracing the road to Zwipe Pay ONE and aiming to gradually ramp up production to address the ongoing market demand for safer and more secure contactless payments.
Since announcing the partnership in April 2019, the two companies have been working closely to fine-tune the technical aspects of the solution and evaluate the market appetite for biometric payments.
“We are now seeing increasing interest in biometric payment cards in our region, especially as consumers become much more familiar with contactless payments and demand safer and more hygienic payment alternatives in store. We have worked closely to adapt our manufacturing processes to integrate Zwipe’s biometric solution in our card production and we are excited to take this partnership to the next level,” says Mr. Hernani Finazzi, CEO of TGS.
“Latin America is a fast-emerging region when it comes to payment card usage. We are extremely glad TGS is taking a key step to embrace the Zwipe platform and bring our collaboration to a new level. We look forward to jointly addressing the needs of banks and consumers in Latin America going forward,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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About Thomas Greg & Sons do Brasil
The group Thomas Greg & Sons established in Brazil in 2000 to serve the Brazilian security printing market. In its 20 years of operation, the company has consolidated as one of the largest companies in the segments of Security Prints, Solutions, Smart Cards, Identification Systems and Traceability. Currently, the group is present in thirteen countries, with more than 10,000 employees. In Brazil, it has a branch in eleven states providing the national driver's license, identity card with automated biometric identification system, vehicle ownership document, traceability stamps, diplomas, electoral system, smart cards, among others.
To learn more, visit www.thomasgreg.com.br
Media Contact for Thomas Greg & Sons do Brasil: Hernani Finazzi, CEO +55 11 2666 8821, vendas@thomasgreg.com.br
OSLO, NORWAY– 18 JUNE 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Watchdata Technologies, a pioneer in digital authentication and transaction security, have partnered to develop and launch next generation contactless payment cards and wearables and bring these innovations to banks in multiple regions.
Watchdata Technologies is a Beijing based Chinese company, with Singapore as its international headquarters. It is serving 80 million banking customers in over 70 countries, the company has extensive operations in China, France, Russia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Mexico. Watchdata offers a wide range of payment products and services and is a VISA, Mastercard, China UnionPay certified manufacturer.
“Partnering with Zwipe to develop the next generation contactless experience aligns strongly with our mission of continuous innovation. Biometric capabilities uniquely combine convenience with security and safety, uplifting card payments’ experience to completely new levels. Integrating Zwipe Pay ONE into our smart card program will be key to competing and securing future business in this fast-emerging segment.” says Nicole Guo, Product Manager of Watchdata.
Zwipe will deliver key components and technical guidance as part of the agreement starting with biometric card payments.
Speaking on the partnership André Løvestam, CEO at Zwipe says “In China faster checkout in retail is cited as the number 1 priority for consumers. We are proud to partner with Watchdata, a fast-moving, innovative and global organization representing significant volume potential in many countries globally for the Zwipe Pay ONE platform. Together, we will develop and roll-out the next generation contactless experience through cards and wearables, addressing the security, safety and privacy needs of consumers worldwide.”
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About Watchdata Technologies
Watchdata Technologies is a recognized pioneer in digital authentication and transaction security. Founded in Beijing in 1994, Watchdata now have international headquarters in Singapore, 8 regional offices, and serve customers in over 70 countries. Watchdata customers include mobile network operators, financial institutions, transport operators, governments and leading business enterprises. Solutions from Watchdata provide daily convenience and security to over 1 billion mobile subscribers, 80 million e-banking customers and 50 million commuters. To learn more, visit www.watchdata.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 8 June 2020 – Zwipe is pleased to announce a new milestone in its ongoing collaboration with Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited (TFCT), a leading smart card manufacturer based in Hong Kong.
TFCT has placed an order that brings the recently announced partnership to begin small scale manufacturing of biometric payment cards. This is a key milestone as part of the setup project and necessary developments in preparing for high-volume market roll-out of Zwipe Pay ONE.
“We have allocated time and space in our manufacturing facilities for producing biometric payment cards powered by Zwipe’s technology. We are excited to move ahead with Zwipe in this important project to develop the biometric payments market” says Mr. Joseph Hui, Deputy Managing Director of Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited.
“The APAC payments market has one of the highest growth rates in the world. We are pleased that TFCT, a payment solutions leader in this region, has decided to step up cooperation to integrate our platform in their payment cards. We look forward to working closely with TFCT to deliver safer and more secure contactless payments with the disruptive Zwipe Pay ONE platform” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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OSLO, NORWAY– 02 June 2020 – Zwipe AS announces that Bishwajit Choudhary has accepted the position of Executive Vice President Strategy & Channels at Zwipe, commencing 2 June 2020. He will lead Zwipe’s engagement efforts towards banks, global and domestic card schemes, selected retailers and other important payments ecosystem stakeholders.
Based in Oslo, Mr. Choudhary brings two decades of experience from Nets where he led many new business initiatives within Digital-ID, electronic signatures and mobile authentication for international clients. As the Group SVP (Strategy) he led Nets' market intelligence and strategy execution and played a key role in many commercial initiatives, notably open-banking data analytics, customer advisory, strategic alliances and fintech partnerships. Prior to joining Zwipe, he was Chief Commercial Officer at UserTribe, a global leader in delivering deep customer insights in 100+ countries based on live experience data.
“With increasing activity in payment cards and wearables in general, and biometrics in particular, and with Zwipe poised to take a technology and cost leadership position in this high potential market, timing is right for Zwipe to complement our growing engagements with our direct customers, the smart card manufacturers, by embarking on a “pull strategy”. This means that we will step up our engagements with banks and neo-banks, as well as new players in card issuance, such as retailers and tech companies. With deep insights in the payments industry, Bishwajit will add a valuable breadth in our payments expertise and lead our strategy and channel development,” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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OSLO, NORWAY– 19 May 2020 –
Financial Calendar 2020 – 2021
Interim Report January-June 2020 August 27, 2020
Financial Year 2020 Annual Report February 25, 2021
Annual General Meeting May 19, 2021
Interim Report January-June 2021 August 26, 2021
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OSLO, NORWAY– 14 May 2020 – The Annual 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 Annual General Meeting are included as an attachment. The complete proposal, which was approved by the Annual General Meeting, is available on www.zwipe.com for further reference. The attendants of the AGM represented 11,2% of the votes in the company.
The following matters were reviewed and confirmed:
Approval of the annual report and financial statements for 2019:
The board’s proposal for the annual report and the financial statements for 2019 for the Company and the group were unanimously approved.
Election of members to the Board of Directors:
The following persons were unanimously elected to comprise the new Board of the Directors:
Remuneration to the members of the Board of Directors and the members of the Nomination Committee
Remuneration to the Board for the period from the AGM in 2020 until the AGM in 2021 were unanimously approved as follows:
Chairman of the Board: NOK 260.000,-
Members of the Board: NOK 130.000,-
As remuneration, it was unanimously approved that members of the Nomination committee each receive a total of NOK 40.000 for each year in the term they have served (two years). Jörgen Lantto is covered by the board member remuneration and will hence not receive remuneration for his seat on the nomination committee.
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 two new authorizations for the Board on capital increases are issued, (i) to fulfil the Company's incentive program and (ii) to cater for strengthening of the Company's equity.
i. Authorization for capital increase to fulfill the Company's incentive program
The Annual General Meeting resolved that the Board is hereby granted authorization to increase the share capital of Zwipe AS (the Company), on one or several occasions, with up to NOK 216 946.70 (2,169,647new shares), equivalent to 8.5% of the registered share capital at the time of this resolution. 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.
ii. Authorization for capital increase to strengthen the Company's equity (extract, please see the attachment to the notice for the complete proposal)
The Annual General Meeting resolved that the General Meeting granted a new authorization to the Board to issue shares corresponding to up to 25% of the share capital, and the new authorization shall be restricted to issue of 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 may be used 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.
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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 May 14, 2020 at 23:15 CET
