Axis closes C$15 million strategic investment by NowLake Technology
Torys acted as counsel to NowLake with a team that included Don Bell, Frazer House and Anthony Bishop (corporate/securities).
On October 19, 2021, Axis Auto Finance Inc. ("Axis") announced a C$15 million strategic investment by NowLake Technology, LLC ("NowLake"), the fintech parent company of Westlake Technology Holdings and Nowcom Corporation. Closing of the transaction was announced on November 12, 2021.
Under the terms of a share purchase agreement, NowLake purchased 30,000,000 common shares of Axis at a price of C$0.50 per share on a private placement basis and now controls approximately 23% of Axis' issued and outstanding common shares. Proceeds of the investment will be used to develop and roll out additional digital loan origination channels, and general corporate purposes.
In addition to the share purchase agreement, NowLake and Axis also entered into an investment rights agreement pursuant to which the Axis Board of Directors will be expanded to eight members on closing of the transaction and NowLake will appoint a representative director. The investment rights agreement also provides NowLake with certain pre-emptive rights in respect of future equity offerings of Axis, as well as registration rights.
Further information can be found on Canada Newswire’s website.
Axis Auto Finance is a fintech lender providing alternative used vehicle financing options to roughly 30% of Canadians that have credit scores in the non-prime range.
NowLake Technology is the fintech parent company of Nowcom, LLC and Westlake Services, LLC. Nowcom develops technology solutions for the automotive and financial services sectors, including Westlake Services. Westlake Services provides indirect financing solutions to thousands of automotive dealers throughout the United States, as well as offering auto loan refinancing, secured loans, and personal loans direct to consumer through LoanCenter.com. It also offers third-party servicing for medium to large scale automotive, personal loan, and secured loan portfolios from finance companies, credit unions, and investments companies.