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Goeasy (TSX:GSY) offloads $60M stake in PayBright

Finance
TSX:GSY
03 December 2020 13:28 (EDT)

Goeasy (GSY) is set to divest its minority equity stake in “buy now, pay later” provider PayBright ahead of its sale to US-based Affirm Holdings.

In September last year, Goeasy injected C$34.3 million into PayBright and is now expected to receive a mixture of cash and equity consideration valued at up to $60.1 million.

As of September 30, 2020, the stake was listed on Goeasy’s balance sheet with a value of $40 million, including $5.7 million in unrealised fair value gains. The company now anticipates recording a further gain on the sale of the PayBright shares, the exact figure of which will be determined after an accounting, tax and valuation review.

“This transaction will deliver an attractive return on our equity investment and significant value for Goeasy shareholders,” said Jason Mullins, President and CEO of Goeasy.

“We look forward to continuing our commercial partnership with Affirm, who is regarded as one of North America’s most innovative and consumer focused buy-now-pay-later platforms,” he added.

According to a separate announcement released today, Affirm will acquire all of PayBright’s shares for a total of $340 million in an effort to gain traction in the Canadian market.

“We are excited to combine with PayBright, creating the opportunity to expand our footprint across North America and scale our platform,” said Max Levchin, CEO of Affirm.

“PayBright shares Affirm’s goal of improving the payments experience for consumers and merchants alike, and PayBright’s base of merchants complements our own customer network,” he continued.

Goeasy is currently up 1.04 per cent to $88.25 per share at 2:11pm EST.

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