/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE
SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED
STATES/
Highlights:
- Resulting issuer to offer pure play access to today's rapidly
expanding rideshare market.
- Electric scooter rideshare program committed to collaborating
with local governments to reduce traffic congestion and carbon
emissions.
- Built for the bike lane and streets, off sidewalks and away
from pedestrians, the OjO scooter is a safe, structurally sound
alternative to the kick-scooters in the market today, with
superior, sustainable unit economics.
- Growth pipeline targets ten-fold increase in deployed rideshare
fleet by end of 2019.
VANCOUVER, July 9, 2019 Arcturus Ventures Inc.
("Arcturus" or the "Company")
(TSXV-NEX: AZN.H) is pleased to announce that it has entered
into a letter agreement dated July 9, 2019
(the "Letter Agreement") with OjO Electric, LLC
("OjO"), a Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) mobility solutions
company based out of Oxnard,
California, to effect a business combination.
About OjO
OjO is a California limited
liability company dedicated to providing safe, sustainable
micro-mobility solutions in collaboration with municipal
governments to reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions.
Micro-mobility ridesharing solutions — personal individual electric
vehicles, such as e-scooters, rentable by-the-minute through a
smartphone app can effectively replace most personal car and
ride-hailing trips, as well as deliver first- and last-mile
solutions for public transit, in congested metro areas. OjO is
rapidly gaining market share in the global rideshare market.
Goldman Sachs has estimated the global mobility market to be worth
US$7.0 trillion, and projects the
ride-hailing segment alone (Uber, Lyft, and others) to grow to
between US$177 billion and
US$492 billion by 2030, and still
constitute just 4% of overall urban trip demand.1
OjO's patented, custom-engineered rideshare scooter is the
culmination of four years of development. Its design differentiates
OjO from the competition, which have almost exclusively deployed
white-labelled commodity kick-scooters. In contrast, the OjO
scooter has a seat, so riders can choose to stand or remain
comfortably seated for their ride, as well as a number of
safety-focused enhancements and a heavy-gauge aluminum chassis for
optimal strength to withstand the demands of rideshare usage. Built
for bike lanes and streets, away from sidewalks and pedestrians,
the zero emission, fully-electric OjO scooter has two swappable
48-volt lithium ion batteries that allow it to go up to 50 miles on
a full charge at bike-lane-legal top speeds of 20 mph. OjO
customers enjoy longer rides than typical kick-scooter riders, and
increased mileage traveled and drive time reduces cars on the road
and emissions.
_____________________________
|
1 Goldman Sachs Global Investment
Research, Rethinking Mobility, May 23, 2017.
|
OjO was founded in 2015 by a group of successful consumer goods
entrepreneurs, inventors, and designers, including Donald Ratner, who is responsible for bringing
over US$1 billion of famous toys, water guns, and licensed
products to worldwide markets. OjO launched its rideshare business
in January 2019 in Austin, Texas, with an initial deployment of
100 scooters. It has since expanded operations to Hoboken, New Jersey, and Dallas, Texas, for a total deployed fleet of
approximately 250 scooters. By gaining access to public markets and
new sources of capital in connection with the Transaction, OjO
plans to significantly ramp up its expansion efforts. It is
currently in advanced discussions with stakeholders in several
additional U.S. municipalities, with plans to have a deployed fleet
of approximately 2,500 or more scooters by the end of this year.
Scooter rideshare services currently exist in more than 100 cities
in North America alone.
Recent published studies on competitors' unit economics have
found an average scooter lifespan of approximately one month, as
compared to the nearly eight months required for them to break
even.2 OjO expects an average lifespan for its
scooters of two years or more under rideshare usage. Under consumer
usage, OjO scooters have lasted well over two years and 6,000 miles
driven. Version 2.0 of OjO's rideshare scooter, which is currently
in production and will be deployed throughout the balance of 2019,
has several design enhancements to make it even sturdier than OjO's
existing models. Based on actual, unaudited results from OjO's
rideshare operations for June 2019,
and an implied revenue per scooter per day of US$17.00,3 OjO requires its
scooters to last an average of just six months to break
even.4
"The adoption curve for e-scooter rideshare is outpacing even
that of ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, which is not all
that surprising given an estimated 53% of all trips in a city
travel fewer than 3 miles" said Max
Smith, Chief Executive Officer of OjO. "But the early
entrants in this space, such as Bird and Lime, have prioritized
market share above all other considerations. We believe this
'blitzscaling' model is fundamentally broken, having been plagued
by theft, vandalism, and heavy pushback from municipalities, and
having created piles of scooter litter, blocked sidewalks,
injuries, and even deaths – not to mention poor unit
economics."
He continued, "That's why OjO has always worked hand-in-hand
with municipal partners to thoughtfully deploy micro-mobility
solutions that respect city planning and infrastructure, treat
public safety as the top priority, and embrace a multi-modal vision
for the future of urban transportation. The OjO scooter itself is a
superior product than all of the kick-scooters in the market from a
safety, quality, and comfort standpoint, but the real difference
maker for city planners and customers alike is usage and range.
While kick-scooters are used for short trips, OjO is providing a
true alternative to cars in the micro-mobility space by also
servicing longer trips."
For the fiscal year ended December 31,
2018, OjO had assets of US$1.1
million, liabilities of US$1.1
million, revenues of US$592,000, and a net loss of US$2.6 million.5 The foregoing
figures reflect unaudited results from operations of OjO prior to
launching its rideshare business, which commenced in January 2019. These results are therefore not
reflective of the current business of OjO, which has been growing
and gaining traction throughout 2019.
_____________________________
|
2 https://qz.com/1561654/how-long-does-a-scooter-last-less-than-a-month-louisville-data-suggests/
|
3 For
the month of June 2019, OjO's rideshare operations earned average
revenue per scooter per day of approximately US$17.50 (unaudited).
This equates to an average of approximately three rides/day at an
average duration of approximately 25 minutes/ride (rides are
US$1.25 to start plus a per minute charge of between US$0.18 and
US$0.25).
|
4 Based on current manufacturing
costs for version 2.0 of OjO's rideshare scooter of US$1,176, and
taking into account all operating costs (including payments to
fleet management partners, daily maintenance, permits, credit card
transaction fees, and data fees).
|
5 Non-final, estimated figures;
remain subject to audit.
|
The Transaction
The Letter Agreement sets out the principal terms and conditions
upon which Arcturus and OjO have agreed to complete a business
combination (the "Transaction") pursuant to which
Arcturus will acquire OjO via a share exchange transaction that
will result in a reverse take-over of Arcturus by OjO. The
Transaction will be effected on a pre-money valuation of the
combined entity (the "Resulting Issuer") of
approximately US$32 million, with
existing securityholders of OjO receiving, in aggregate,
approximately 37.4 million common shares of the Resulting Issuer
("Resulting Issuer CS").6 Transaction fees
of approximately 1.2 million Resulting Issuer CS will be payable on
the completion of the Transaction, in addition to customary
transaction fees and expenses payable in cash.
The precise form and structure of the Transaction, including the
security exchange mechanics and the terms of the securities of
Arcturus issuable to OjO securityholders, will be determined having
regard to advice from tax and securities law advisors of the
parties. Among other things, the final Transaction structure is
expected to involve certain key OjO securityholders, who will
collectively hold approximately 30% of Resulting Issuer CS
immediately following the closing of the Transaction (calculated on
a fully-diluted and as-converted basis), exchanging a de
minimis number of their OjO membership units for multiple
voting shares of Arcturus ("Resulting Issuer MVS")
providing them with approximately 80% of the outstanding voting
rights of the Resulting Issuer. Resulting Issuer MVS will:
(i) have 1,000 votes each; (ii) be convertible into
Resulting Issuer CS on a 1:1 basis in certain circumstances,
including automatic conversion into Resulting Issuer CS upon
holders of Resulting Issuer MVS collectively owning less than 20%
of the outstanding Resulting Issuer shares (calculated on a
fully-diluted and as-converted basis); (iii) not entitle the
holders to any greater economic interest per share than the
Resulting Issuer CS; (iv) not entitle the holders to change
the rights and restrictions attached to any class of shares of the
Resulting Issuer without a vote of all Resulting Issuer
shareholders with the Resulting Issuer MVS having just one vote
each; and (v) not have any anti-dilution rights. The Resulting
Issuer CS holders will be provided with customary coattail
rights.
The Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including
completion of the Financing (defined below), receipt of applicable
third party consents and regulatory approvals, including , TSX
Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") approval, receipt of applicable
corporate and securityholder approvals, completion of satisfactory
due diligence by OjO on Arcturus and Finco, and the execution of a
definitive agreement in respect of the Transaction. The Transaction
does not need to be approved by Arcturus shareholders under TSX-V
Policy 5.2, as the Company is inactive and in good standing, the
Transaction is not a "Related Party Transaction", and no other
circumstances exist which may compromise the independence of the
Company or other interested parties. However, Arcturus shareholders
will be required to approve components of the Transaction,
including authorizing the creation of the Resulting Issuer MVS. The
Company intends to seek a waiver from the TSX-V to exempt the
Transaction from the sponsorship requirements of TSX-V Policy
2.2.
_____________________________
|
6 On
a fully converted basis in the event securities convertible into,
or exchangeable for, shares of the Resulting Issuer , including
Resulting Issuer MVS, are issued in the Transaction
(hereinafter referred to as "on a fully-diluted and as-converted
basis").
|
Subject to such conditions being satisfied or, if applicable,
waived, the Transaction is anticipated to close in
September 2019.
Trading in the common shares of the Company has been halted in
accordance with the policies of the TSX-V and will remain halted
until such time as all required documentation has been filed with
and accepted by the TSX-V and permission to resume trading has been
obtained from the TSX-V.
The Financing
A newly incorporated special purpose British Columbia corporation ("Finco"),
will complete a brokered private placement financing
(the "Financing") of 9,000,000 subscription receipts
("Subscription Receipts") at a price of C$0.76 per Subscription Receipt for aggregate
gross proceeds of C$6,840,000. In
connection with the completion of the Transaction, (i) each
Subscription Receipt will be convertible into one common share of
Finco, (ii) each Finco common share so issued will ultimately be
exchanged for one common share of the Resulting Issuer and (iii)
the proceeds of the Financing will be released to the Resulting
Issuer. If the Transaction is completed, the Resulting Issuer will
use the gross proceeds from the Financing for the manufacture and
deployment of scooters in cities in OjO's pipeline, for general
corporate and working capital purposes and to pay for the expenses
of the Financing and the Transaction. A cash commission of up
to 6% of the gross proceeds of the Financing may be paid to the
agents.
If the Transaction is not completed prior to October 31, 2019 or the definitive agreement in
respect of the Transaction is terminated at any earlier date, the
Financing proceeds, together with any interest, will be returned to
the holders of the Subscription Receipts.
About the Resulting Issuer
In connection with the Transaction, the Resulting Issuer will,
among other things, have changed its name to "OjO Electric Corp."
or such other name to be determined by OjO, and will also apply to
change its stock symbol. The Resulting Issuer is expected to
continue to exist under the Business Corporations Act (B.C.)
and will operate the business of OjO.
Immediately following the closing of the Transaction, the
Resulting Issuer will have a board of directors consisting of seven
members, six of whom will be nominated by OjO, with one such
nominee being in consultation with Arcturus, and 1 of whom will be
nominated by Arcturus. Each of the five members of the current
board of directors of OjO – namely, Maxwell
Smith (Chief Executive Officer of OjO), Donald Ratner (co-founder and former Chief
Executive Officer of OjO), Alan
Shapiro (co-founder and former President of OjO),
Gerald Jacob, and Roger Goddu – are expected to continue on to
serve on the board of directors of the Resulting Issuer. In
addition, the Resulting Issuer will appoint an experienced
management team on closing, led by Chief Executive Officer,
Maxwell Smith, who has successfully
raised capital and drove business growth through eight exits over
the course of his career.
For illustrative purposes, it is anticipated that, immediately
following the closing of the Transaction, there will be
approximately 65.8 million Resulting Issuer CS outstanding, with
Subscription Receipt holders holding approximately 13.7% of the
Resulting Issuer CS (calculated on a fully-diluted and as-converted
basis and assuming the sale of 9 million Subscription
Receipts).
It is anticipated that a portion of the issued and outstanding
shares of the Resulting Issuer will be subject to the escrow
requirements of the TSX-V. Also, approximately 42.9 million
shares of the Resulting Issuer (inclusive of securities convertible
into, or exchangeable for, shares of the Resulting Issuer,
including the Resulting Issuer MVS, on a fully converted basis)
will be subject to a voluntary pooling agreement with releases over
a two-year period from closing of the Transaction.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements"
and "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian
securities legislation that are not historical facts.
Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other
factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects,
and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements in this news release include, but are not limited to,
statements with respect to: the structure, terms and conditions of
the proposed Transaction; OjO and OjO's business and prospects; the
Company's objectives, goals or future plans; the receipt of the
terms and conditions of the Financing; the requisite approvals with
respect to the Transaction; the issuance of the Resulting Issuer
MVS and the terms thereof; and the name, business, operations,
management and capitalization of the Resulting Issuer.
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of
estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
which may cause actual results and future events to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general
business, economic and social uncertainties; litigation,
legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory,
political and competitive developments; delay or failure to receive
board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; those additional risks
set out in Arcturus' public documents filed on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com; and other matters discussed in this news release.
Accordingly, the forward-looking statements discussed in this
release, including the completion of the Transaction and the
Financing, may not occur and could differ materially as a result of
these known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties
affecting the companies. Although Arcturus believes that the
assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking
statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on
these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news
release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur
in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by
law, Arcturus disclaims any intention or obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events, or otherwise.
Reader Advisory
Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of
conditions, including but not limited to TSX-V acceptance. The
Transaction cannot close until these conditions are satisfied or,
if applicable, waived. There can be no assurance that the
Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.
Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the
filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction,
any information released or received with respect to the
Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be
relied upon. Trading in the securities of Arcturus should be
considered highly speculative.
The TSX-V has in no way passed upon the merits of the
proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the
contents of this press release.
Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts
responsibility of the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a
solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities under the Financing
in the United States. The
securities have not been and will not be registered under
the United States Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or
any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within
the United States or to U.S.
Persons (as defined under the U.S. Securities Act) unless
registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state
securities laws or an exemption from such registration is
available.
SOURCE Arcturus Ventures Inc.