CoinSmart Announces Acquisition by Coinsquare, Creating one of Canada's Largest Crypto Asset Trading Platforms

CoinSmart Financial Inc. (" CoinSmart " or the " Company ") (NEO: SMRT) (FSE: IIR), announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement dated September 22, 2022 (the " Purchase Agreement ") with Coinsquare Ltd. (" Coinsquare "), a leading Canadian crypto asset trading platform, pursuant to which CoinSmart has agreed to sell to Coinsquare all of the issued and outstanding shares of its wholly-owned operating subsidiary Simply Digital Technologies Inc. (" Simply Digital ") (the " Transaction ").

The acquisition and integration of these two businesses will establish Coinsquare as one of Canada's largest crypto asset trading platforms with a diversified and compliant offering across various business lines, including both retail and institutional trading, crypto payment processing, and digital asset custody. CoinSmart will hold approximately 12% ownership in Coinsquare on a pro-forma basis. The combined company has transacted over $10 billion since January 2018 , and will have over $350 million in assets under custody with a combined user base in excess of 1 million.

Coinsquare is in the final stages of its approval to become Canada's first crypto asset trading platform regulated as an Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (" IIROC ") dealer and marketplace member.

"Today is an exciting day for all of us at CoinSmart," said CoinSmart CEO Justin Hartzman . "We are thrilled to be working alongside the Coinsquare team to build one of the largest regulated crypto asset trading platforms in Canada and I could not be more proud of what we have accomplished so far. With a diversified product suite, exceptional crypto talent, and one of the largest user bases in Canada , the combined company will be well-positioned to pursue its aggressive expansion plans. While the crypto market is in the building phase of its life cycle, this transaction will provide the torque needed to be in a favourable position entering the next bull run."

"This acquisition represents a monumental and exciting milestone for both companies and brings together two industry leading management teams." said Coinsquare, CEO Martin Piszel . "We are excited to work together to shape how the crypto industry in Canada grows and evolves, and together we will be able to offer our clients the most innovative and secure products backed by the highest standards of regulation in the industry."

Key Transaction Benefits

• One of   Canada's Largest Crypto Asset Trading Platforms: combined company will have transacted over $10 billion in crypto transactions since January 2018 and will have over $350 million in assets under custody, together with a diversified and regulated platform across trading, payments, asset management, and digital asset custody.
• Acquisition of Cash and Shares with Upside to Shareholders: consideration payable to CoinSmart at closing of $3 million in cash, and the issuance of 5,222,222 common shares of Coinsquare (" Coinsquare Shares "), with an aggregate deemed value of approximately $26,215,555 , plus the ability to receive up to approximately $20 million in additional cash consideration on the achievement of SmartPay business earn-out targets and 1,100,000 Coinsquare Shares on the achievement of over-the-counter (" OTC ") business earn-out targets. It is further anticipated that CoinSmart will hold cash (or crypto assets) of approximately $10 million on completion of the Transaction.
• Investment in Canada's only Qualified Custodian for Digital Assets: backed by Coinsquare, Coinbase Ventures and other well-known financial institutions, Tetra Trust is Canada's only qualified custodian for digital assets, and represents significant potential upside for Coinsquare shareholders.
• Exposure to Diversified Investment Portfolio: Coinsquare, through its subsidiary Coinsquare Investments Ltd., holds a diversified investment portfolio in assets, such as FRNT Financial (TSXV: FRNT) and two Blockchange Ventures funds.
• Management Team to Join Coinsquare : CoinSmart Co-Founders Justin Hartzman, Jeremy Koven , and Michael Koral , amongst others, will join Coinsquare. Justin Hartzman will join the Coinsquare Executive Team and CoinSmart will be entitled to a nominee to join the Coinsquare Board of Directors upon completion of the Transaction.
• Voting Support by Senior Officers and Directors of ~45%: each of the directors and certain senior officers of CoinSmart have entered into support and voting agreements with Coinsquare pursuant to which they have agreed to vote in favour of the Transaction.

Transaction Details

Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, Coinsquare will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Simply Digital on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

The purchase price, which is subject to standard post-closing adjustments as set out in the Purchase Agreement, will be satisfied on closing by (i) the payment to CoinSmart of $3 million in cash, and (ii) the issuance of 5,222,222 Coinsquare Shares to CoinSmart. Coinsquare's largest shareholder, Mogo Inc. (NASDAQ: MOGO) (TSX: MOGO), disclosed in their most recent financials that they valued the Coinsquare Shares at approximately $5.02 per Coinsquare Share as of June 30 , 2022.  There can be no assurance that such value per Coinsquare Share has not changed since June 30, 2022 .

Subject to the terms set forth in the Purchase Agreement, additional consideration will be payable to CoinSmart pursuant to the Transaction upon the achievement of certain revenue-based earn-out targets related to CoinSmart's SmartPay business and OTC trading business. Up to an additional $20 million in cash may be payable pursuant to the SmartPay earn-out (over a period of three years following closing of the Transaction) and up to an additional 1,100,000 Coinsquare Shares may be issuable pursuant to the OTC earn-out (over a period of one year following closing of the Transaction).

On completion of the Transaction, CoinSmart will hold approximately 12% of the issued and outstanding Coinsquare Shares.  Coinsquare is a privately held company incorporated under the laws of Canada . Other than its interest in Coinsquare Shares and cash, CoinSmart will hold no other material assets immediately following the completion of the Transaction.  The Transaction has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of the Company (the " Board ").

Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Board may respond to an unsolicited bona fide written proposal that, having regard to all relevant terms and conditions of such proposal, constitutes or could reasonably be expected to constitute or lead to a Superior Proposal (as defined in the Purchase Agreement).

The Transaction will constitute the sale of all or substantially all of the undertaking of CoinSmart pursuant to the Business Corporations Act ( British Columbia ) and, accordingly, will require approval by not less than two-thirds of the votes cast at a special meeting of the shareholders of CoinSmart (the " Meeting "). CoinSmart currently expects to mail the management information circular in connection with the Meeting to shareholders on or before October 29, 2022 , and to hold the Meeting on or before November 29, 2022 . Subject to the satisfaction (or waiver) of applicable closing conditions as set forth in the Purchase Agreement, the closing of the Transaction is anticipated to occur in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The management of CoinSmart will be employed by Coinsquare following the closing of the Transaction and will continue to play an active role in the ongoing and future business of Simply Digital (including the SmartPay business and the OTC business).

Board Recommendation

The Board has unanimously determined that the Transaction is in the best interests of CoinSmart. Accordingly, the Board approved the Purchase Agreement and recommends that Shareholders vote in favour of the resolution to approve the Transaction at the Meeting.

Each of the directors and certain senior officers of the Company, collectively holding approximately 45% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company, have entered into support and voting agreements with Coinsquare pursuant to which they have agreed to support and vote in favour of the Transaction.  In making its determination, the Board considered, among other things, an opinion provided to the Board by Eight Capital to the effect that, based upon and subject to the limitations, assumptions and qualifications stated in such opinion, the consideration to be received by CoinSmart pursuant to the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to CoinSmart.

Financial Advisors and Counsel

In connection with the Transaction, CoinSmart has engaged Eight Capital as its financial advisor and Wildeboer Dellelce LLP as its legal advisor. Coinsquare has engaged Origin Merchant Partners as its financial advisor and Goodmans LLP as its legal advisor.

Additional Information

Complete details of the terms and conditions of the Transaction are set out in the Purchase Agreement, which will be filed by CoinSmart under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .

In addition, further information regarding the Transaction will be contained in the management information circular in respect of the Meeting which will be filed on SEDAR at the time that it is mailed to shareholders. All shareholders are urged to read the information circular once it becomes available, as it will contain additional important information concerning the Transaction.

CoinSmart is a leading Canadian-headquartered crypto asset trading platform dedicated to providing customers with an intuitive way for buying and selling digital assets, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. CoinSmart is one of the few crypto asset trading platforms in Canada to be registered as a securities dealer and marketplace with the Ontario Securities Commission. CoinSmart is also one of the first Canadian headquartered trading platforms to have an international presence, accepting customers across 40+ countries at a time when the digital asset industry continues to rapidly expand. CoinSmart further builds on its mission to make cryptocurrency accessible by providing educational resources tailored to every level of cryptocurrency knowledge and unparalleled 24/7 omni-channel customer support. Offering instant verification, industry leading cold wallet storage, advanced charting with order book functionality and over-the-counter premium services, CoinSmart ensures every client's needs are met with the highest level of quality and care. For more information, please visit www.coinsmart.com .

Founded in 2014, Coinsquare, a private company incorporated under the laws of Canada provides customers with a proprietary platform engineered to deliver a robust, secure, and intelligent interface for trading Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and other digital assets. Coinsquare has grown to become Canada's oldest operating digital asset firm, trading on behalf of over half a million Canadians. Coinsquare has raised over $100M in capital and has successfully executed trades in excess of $8 billion to date. For more information, please visit www.coinsquare.com .

This news release contains "forward-looking information" which may include, but is not limited to, information with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Such forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words and phrases such as "plans," "expects," "is expected," "budget," "scheduled," "estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "anticipates," or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information in this press release includes, among other things, statements and information concerning: the anticipated benefits of the completion of the Transaction; the opportunities available to the combined company on completion of the Transaction; the consideration payable to the Company pursuant to the Transaction, including potential additional consideration payable upon the achievement of specified earn-out targets; the Company's pro-forma ownership of Coinsquare following completion of the Transaction; membership of the Company nominee on the board of Coinsquare following the completion of the Transaction; the requirement for the Company to obtain shareholder approval of the Transaction; the anticipated timing of the Meeting; the parties' ability to satisfy closing conditions, including the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals; and the anticipated timing for completion of the Transaction.

Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other risk factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks in respect of forward-looking information in this press release include:   risks associated with the Transaction and with purchase and sale transactions generally, such as the failure to satisfy closing conditions contained in the Purchase Agreement, the failure to obtain shareholder or regulatory approvals, and the absence of material adverse changes or other events which may give the parties a basis on which to terminate the Purchase Agreement; and   the risk that the Transaction may not close on the anticipated timeline, or at all. In addition there are business risks and uncertainties associated with the digital currency industry generally, including:   adapting to technological change, new products and standards; increased competition that adversely affects business; additional competition from new or existing technologies that adversely affect business; software products and/or services may contain undetected errors or "bugs", vulnerabilities or defects; damage or failure of information technology; cybersecurity risks associated with data security and hacking; potential violations of applicable privacy laws; political, economic and other uncertainties in respect of digital currencies;   and various other risks as set out in the annual information form of the Company dated March 31, 2022 , in respect of the financial year ended December 31, 2021 , a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Although the Company has attempted to identify certain important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward- looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation, except as otherwise required by law, to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors change.

The Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder and regulatory approvals are obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. The Transaction could be modified, restructured or terminated. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Purchase Agreement or management information circular to be delivered to shareholders in connection with the Transaction, copies of each of which are or will be filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at   www.sedar.com , any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon.

The NEO Exchange Inc. has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.

SOURCE CoinSmart

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