TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 15, 2014) -
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S.
The Mint Corporation (TSX VENTURE:MIT) ("Mint" or the "Company") announces the following:
Agreement with Global Business Services ("GBS")
Mint is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement under which GBS will subscribe for a 49% interest in Mint Middle East LLC ("MME") for USD$900,000. That agreement amends the agreement in principal announced in a press release dated January 8, 2014.
Over the last six months, GBS has taken a leadership role in restructuring and stabilizing the MME operations in the United Arab Emirates ("UAE") and creating a path for the future while the Company went through a financial restructuring and refinancing in Canada. Some of the significant actions taken by GBS include consolidating Mint's offices in the UAE, negotiating with creditors and employees, reaching out to key partner financial institutions and vendors to win their continued cooperation, maintaining the bank guarantee of AED 7.5M (which allowed the mobile top-up business of Mint Electronic Payment Services LLC to survive) and keeping the regulatory authorities in the UAE on side while MME was unable to meet salary and other obligations during the restructuring process.
To compensate GBS for the work done so far in ensuring that Mint's UAE operations survived the difficult restructuring and to allow GBS to become a partner, Mint has paid GBS USD$3 million and CAD$2.5 million and GBS has invested USD$900,000 to subscribe for a 49% ownership interest in MME. An additional USD$435,000 will be paid by Mint to GBS on or before May 16, 2016. GBS has also agreed to purchase USD$100,000 of common shares in Mint through the public market.
So long as GBS owns not less than 49% of MME and Mint owns directly or indirectly not less than 51% of MME, GBS shall be entitled to name a nominee for election to the board of directors of Mint and Mint will include that nominee among the slate of directors proposed by management.
Mint believes this partnership with GBS will open significant business development opportunities, reduce the risk associated with the Company's UAE operations by having a partner from the region and strengthen the current business platform. Mint believes this is essential for the Company to become profitable and create significant future value.
Mint is currently negotiating an ongoing management agreement with GBS for its services to MME.
Board and Management Changes
Mint also announces the resignation of Mr. Nabil Bader as a director the Company and all of its subsidiaries. The Company is thankful for Mr. Bader for his contributions to the Company. Mr. Bader brought tremendous vision to Mint and also played a leadership role in establishing the Wages Protection System (WPS) in the UAE. That system is now gaining traction in surrounding countries. The WPS is a law that requires businesses covered by it to pay wages to workers electronically through methods that can be verified. Such methods typically involve direct deposit either to a bank account or a prepaid card. One of the main drivers of the WPS is to remove the risk of defaults in the payment of wages to migrant workers who represent a large and important part of the labour force in the Gulf economies.
GENERAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
Investors are encouraged to read the Management Discussion and Analysis Documents filed on SEDAR for a description of additional risks associated with investing in the Company. The following statement is only intended to inform investors on certain of the many risks associated with investing in the Company. The Company operates predominantly in the Middle East and North Africa ("MENA"). It is accordingly exposed to significant political, legal and regulatory risks associated with operating in these emerging and volatile markets. The key management personnel and operations of the Company are based in countries which do not have strong and reliable judicial enforcement. This results directly in additional risk with respect to the enforcement of legal and contractual rights, including, for example but without limitation, the enforcement of the rights of creditors, the protection of intellectual property rights, the enforcement of joint venture arrangements, and binding key employees with non-compete agreements. Since inception, the Company has not reached profitability. The Company relies heavily on high-cost, debt financing to fund its business plan. This has exposed the Company to unique financial risks associated with significantly higher than normal debt levels. Investors in the company are strongly encouraged to be aware of the significant risks of the company, to conduct additional due diligence and to seek the help of a licensed investment advisor before considering to invest in securities of the Company. Moreover, investors must be aware that the purchase of the Company's securities involves a number of additional significant risks and uncertainties, as disclosed in the Management Discussion and Analysis reports filed on SEDAR by the Company. Investors considering purchasing securities of the Company should be able to bear the economic risk of total loss of such investment.
ABOUT MINT CORPORATION
Established in 2004, Mint is the world's first vertically integrated prepaid card and payroll services provider with its own ATM network, payment processing platform and proprietary branded card product delivered to workers in the United Arab Emirates and expanding to other parts of the Middle East. Mint operates through 3 subsidiaries, Mint Middle East LLC, a payroll card services provider; Mint Capital LLC, a financial products distribution company and Mint Electronic Payment Services LLC, a mobile airtime POS and merchant network solutions business.
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
For additional information please visit
www.mintinc.com.