Highlights:
- Trading as "OJO" commences on the TSXV at market open on
Tuesday, October 22, 2019, offering
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, OjO's seated scooter is a safe, structurally
sound alternative to the kick-scooters in the market today, with
superior, sustainable unit economics.
- Pipeline targets ten-fold increase in deployed rideshare fleet
by Jan-2020.
- Growth strategy also targets partnerships with operators of
last-mile delivery services; pilot ongoing with a leading on-demand
food delivery service company.
OXNARD, CA and VANCOUVER, Oct. 21,
2019 /CNW/ - OjO Electric Corp. (formerly Arcturus Ventures
Inc.) (the "Company") (TSXV: OJO) is pleased to
announce that it has completed its previously announced business
combination (the "Business Combination") with OjO
Electric, LLC ("OjO"), a Light Electric Vehicle (LEV)
mobility solutions company based out of Oxnard, California.
Trading in the shares of the Company will commence on the TSX
Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") at market open on
Tuesday, October 22, 2019 under the
symbol "OJO".
Rideshare
OjO is 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 LEVs, 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 was founded in 2015 by a group of successful
consumer goods entrepreneurs, inventors, and designers, including
Don Ratner, who is responsible for
bringing over US$1 billion of famous
toys, water guns, and licensed products to worldwide markets.
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 "We believe strongly that LEV rideshare
will represent a significant part of this growing mobility market,"
said Max Smith, CEO and a Director
of the Company. "The adoption curve for LEV rideshare is outpacing
even that of ride-hailing, which makes sense given an estimated 53%
of all urban trips span fewer than 3 miles." Mr. Smith has a
track record of driving business growth having been an instrumental
part of eight successful exits in his career to date.
OjO has already secured permits from Austin, Dallas, and Memphis to deploy a total of 1,250 OjO
scooters, all of which are expected to be deployed over the next
3-6 weeks (up from current fleet size of 250). The Company expects
the remaining scooters (to increase the fleet to 2,500) to be
delivered by year-end and deployed by the end of January 2020.
All of these units will be OjO's latest generation "V2"
rideshare scooter, which has been custom-built for rideshare with
rider safety in mind. The V2 scooter features an integrated GPS
technology system with onboard Bluetooth speakers, which allows for
geo-fence approach warnings, as well as traffic, construction zone,
speed reduction zone, and nearby docking station alerts. Updated
software and hardware provide OjO with the ability to control
speeds within designated slow ride zones and geo-fence
locations.
OjO intends to expand its ridesharing service to other major US
cities in the next 12 months, including, among others, San Antonio, TX, and Washington, D.C., and to add additional cities
in North America and Europe, all subject to receipt of applicable
regulatory approvals.
Last-Mile Delivery
The OjO scooter, with its dual 48V lithium-ion battery packs,
has a maximum range of 50 miles and is capable of a maximum speed
of 20 mph with a maximum load of 300 lbs. A comfortable, adjustable
cushioned seat and rear storage basket not only makes the OjO
scooter distinguishable from many other rideshare electric "kick"
scooters but makes it an ideal replacement for the CO2-emitting
vehicles used in last-mile delivery services ranging from on-demand
food delivery apps to package delivery.
In May 2019, OjO entered into a
pilot with a leading on-demand food delivery service company,
providing an initial fleet of 5 scooters to their drivers. The
pilot has been very successful, with an estimated 35% efficiency
improvement in deliveries, more trips and tips for drivers, and
greater driver retention. The pilot was recently expanded to 25
scooters.
"We view last-mile delivery as a major opportunity and potential
catalyst for the Company," said Mr. Smith. "In the near term,
we hope to extend our first pilot in this space into a long-term
partnership and are actively seeking out other similar
opportunities in the space."
The Business Combination
Pursuant to a Business Combination Agreement entered into on
October 15, 2019, among the Company, OjO, and various other
companies, the Company renamed its common shares as "Limited Voting
Shares" and created a new class of multiple voting shares (the
"MV Shares"). As of the closing of the Business Combination
("Closing"), the Company has a total of 34,799,710 Limited
Voting Shares and 140,000 MV Shares issued and outstanding. On an
as-converted basis, assuming the redemption of all OjO membership
units for Limited Voting Shares, and conversion of all MV Shares
into Limited Voting Shares, the effective capitalization of the
Company as of Closing consists of 67,937,413 Limited Voting
Shares.
On Closing, the Company issued an aggregate of 10,591,515
Limited Voting Shares to the subscribers of the August 7, 2019
private placement completed by 1148489
B.C. Ltd. (as described in the Company's news release dated
July 9, 2019). These shares are subject to a hold period
expiring on December 7, 2019. The Company also issued
1,246,946 Limited Voting Shares as finder's fees or loan bonus
shares in connection with the transaction. An additional 5,397,925
Limited Voting Shares were issued to holders of Convertible Notes
of OjO that were converted and redeemed on Closing.
On Closing, certain key OjO securityholders exchanged a de
minimis number of their membership units in OjO for an
aggregate of 140,000 MV Shares, providing them with approximately
80% of the outstanding voting rights of the Company. Each MV Share:
(i) has 1,000 votes; (ii) is convertible into Limited
Voting Shares of the Company on a 1:1 basis in certain
circumstances; (iii) does not entitle the holder to any
greater economic interest per share than the Limited Voting Shares;
(iv) does not entitle the holder to change the rights and
restrictions attached to any class of shares of the Company without
a vote of all Company shareholders with the MV Shares having just
one vote each; and (v) does not have any anti-dilution rights.
The outstanding MV Shares will also be automatically converted into
Limited Voting Shares: (i) upon the first date that an MV
Share is held by or transferred to a person other than a permitted
transferee, (ii) upon the first date which the holder of an MV
Share ceases to be a director, officer or consultant of the
Company, and (iii) upon the date on which the holders of MV
Shares collectively own less than 20% of the outstanding shares of
the Company (calculated on an as-converted basis). The holders of
Limited Voting Shares holders have been provided with customary
coattail rights pursuant to a Coattail Agreement entered into among
the Company and the holders of the MV Shares.
Pursuant to a Fourth Amended and Restated Operating Agreement of
OjO, which was entered into in connection with the Business
Combination, the Company has been appointed as sole Manager of OjO
(through its subsidiary, OjO Electric US Holdings Corp.).
The membership units of OjO that remain outstanding post-Closing
are redeemable for an aggregate of 32,997,703 Limited Voting
Shares, subject to certain restrictions. Any OjO membership units
that remain unredeemed on the 7th anniversary of the
Closing will be automatically redeemed for Limited Voting
Shares.
In connection with the Business Combination, the Board of
Directors of the Company was reconstituted to consist of
Max Smith, Don Ratner, Alan
Shapiro, Doug Deluca,
Dale G. Seiden, Jessica Van Den Akker, and Brian T. O'Neill. In addition, Mr. Smith
has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, Darren Cross has been appointed as Chief
Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary, and
Roman Spandrio has been appointed as
Chief Product and Innovation Officer.
In addition to the hold period on the Limited Voting Shares
issued in connection with the August 7, 2019 private
placement, an aggregate of 14,060,052 Limited Voting Shares
(including 13,626,215 Limited Voting Shares that are issuable to
holders of OjO membership units on conversion of such securities)
and 129,000 MV Shares are subject to a value escrow agreement
entered into with Computershare Trust Company of Canada. A further 52,442,147 Limited Voting
Shares are subject to voluntary pooling restrictions, including
19,391,790 issued and outstanding on Closing and 33,050,357
issuable to holders of OjO membership units on redemption of such
units. Pursuant to the pooling restrictions, 20% are released on
Closing, and 20% are released on each six-month anniversary of
Closing. In addition, 6,016,633 of the Limited Voting Shares which
are subject to the voluntary pooling restrictions are also subject
to a three-year seed share resale restriction imposed by the
TSXV.
Completion of the Business Combination has received final
approval of the TSXV. Further details of the Business Combination
can be found in the Filing Statement of the Company dated
October 15, 2019 which was prepared in accordance with the
requirements of the TSXV and is available under the Company's
profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
On Closing, the Company granted an aggregate of 6,050,000 stock
options to directors, officers, employees and other service
providers to purchase up to the same number of Limited Voting
Shares. The stock options have an exercise price of $0.76 per Limited Voting Share, expire ten years
form the date of grant and vest according to their terms.
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: OjO and OjO's business and prospects
and the Company's objectives, goals or future plans; and the
business, operations, and management of the Company.
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 the Company's 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, may not occur and could differ materially as a result of
these known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties
affecting the companies. Although the Company 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, the Company 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
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.
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1 Goldman Sachs Global Investment
Research, Rethinking Mobility, May 23, 2017.
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SOURCE OjO Electric Corp.