Smartchase Corp. (OTC: SCHS) (“Smartchase”) is pleased to announce that it has signed a binding Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with a related party to acquire 90% of the outstanding shares of Northern Coast Asset Management Inc. (“NCAM”), a Canadian manufacturer of alternative investment funds.  This acquisition marks an important step in Smartchase’s strategy to become a leading Canadian Fintech.

NCAM is a dynamic player in the private capital sector in Canada and has extensive experience in servicing independent financial advisors. [The term “independent” refers to independence from the uber-large Canadian banks and insurance companies].  The biggest five Canadian banks dominate the Canadian financial landscape, owning 89 per cent of the market. In comparison, the largest five banks in the United States only have a 35 per cent share of their respective market. (World Economic Forum, “The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015”).

NCAM’s business model was built on filling the voids left behind by the large Canadian banks and meeting the needs of “average” Canadians who increasingly feel left behind both as investors and as borrowers.

Included in the acquisition are Northern Coast Strategic Fund Inc. (“NCSF”) and Northern Coast ABL Inc. (“NCABL”), both wholly owned subsidiaries of NCAM. NCSF was founded in 2015 and has emerged as an innovative private capital fund specializing in alternative residential mortgages for Canadian Homeowners.  NCABL is set to launch its first private capital fund in Q4-2019 and will fund alternative asset-backed loans to Canadian small businesses.

Smartchase’s acquisition of NCAM will be a key component of its strategy to become a leading provider of financial services and structured investment products to independent financial advisors in Canada, and Smartchase’s Fintech Flatform will serve to bolster compliance and increase NCAM’s reach across Canada.

“This acquisition by Smartchase will bring together two highly synergetic assets: Northern Coast’s knowledge of the private capital market and the role played by independent financial advisors, combined with Smartchase’s Fintech Platform”, said Thomas Jones, CEO of Smartchase Corp. and President of Northern Coast Financial Inc.  “This combination of human experience and Fintech efficiency means that Smartchase’s Canadian subsidiary, NCAM, will empower independent financial advisors in Canada to compete head-to-head with their much larger competitors with greater efficiency and stronger compliance.”

In addition to the acquisition of NCAM, the MOU also includes the following:

• The parties agreed to honor the existing NCSF agreements with Black Hawk Consulting Inc., NCSF’s mortgage administrator;
• Smartchase will work with NCAM to find new sources of capital to fund asset-backed loans;
• Smartchase agreed to work with NCAM to make NCSF and NCABL issues more widely available by adding an IFM (registered Investment Fund Manager) and qualifying for listing on Fundserv®.

Smartchase will release additional details of the acquisition prior to the signing of the definitive purchase agreement, currently planned to take place for June 20^th, 2019.

SOURCE Smartchase Corp.