Future FinTech Group Inc. (NASDAQ: FTFT) (“hereinafter referred to as Future FinTech”, “FTFT” or “the Company”), a leading blockchain e-commerce company and a service provider for financial technology, today announced that on March 22, 2021, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, Future Commercial Group Co., Ltd., signed an equity acquisition frame agreement (“Frame Agreement”) with Guang Zhou Hi-Card Computer Network Service Co., Ltd. (“Guang Zhou”) to acquire 60% of the shares of Guang Dong Hi-Card Business Service Co., Ltd. (“Hi-Card”). The Frame Agreement is non-binding except for the ‘Confidentiality and Exclusivity’ and ‘Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution’ sections of the Frame Agreement.
Hi-Card is a financial technology service provider that provides payment settlement services primarily for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as financial institutions. It is recognized as a national high-tech enterprise and holds a payment business license issued by the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of China. Hi-Card was named one of “China’s Potential Enterprises” from 2013 – 2015 by Forbes China.
Hi-Card achieved net profit of RMB 4.8 million (approximately $0.7 million) for fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 based on its audited financials under Chinese GAAP. The acquisition price for the 60% equity interest of Hi-Card is estimated to be RMB 60.0 million (approximately $9.2 million) subject to the results of due diligence by the Company and final negotiation by the parties, with 50% of the payment to be made in cash and 50% in FTFT’s common stock, the price of which will be based upon the average closing price of FTFT’s common stock on the Nasdaq during the 10 trading days before the signing date of the final definitive share purchase agreement.
Mr. Yi Yang, Chairman of Hi-Card, said, “Hi-Card currently serves more than 400,000 merchants, and over the last three years it has recorded an average of processed payments of RMB 20 billion which is approximately US$3 billion per year with average annual transaction volume of RMB 110 billion which is approximately US$17 billion over the last three years. Hi-Card serves many companies in China and has established strong business relationships with China UnionPay, major commercial banks and industry associations, and it has established an excellent reputation in the industry. Future FinTech has a highly experienced management team as well as a team of experts in blockchain technology which will help Hi-Card to expand its growth and market penetration.”
Mr. Yang continued, “Hi-Card has focused on the field of electronic transaction payments and information processing for many years and we believe that the cooperation between the two parties will deepen block chain technology applications in the payment and settlement field. We will continue to provide first-class network design, systems integration, technical support, terminal market promotion and other solutions for the finance, public services and electronic payment fields to form a comprehensive financial payment ecological chain.”
Mr. Shanchun Huang, Chief Executive Officer of Future FinTech, said, “Hi-Card is a highly active player in the payment processing space in China. It has accumulated a great deal of experience and has translated this into success in financial technology, especially in the development and promotion of application systems in the electronic payment field. We are pleased to have entered into this initial frame agreement as it represents yet another major step in expanding our footprint in financial technology services.”
Mr. Huang continued, “We are confident that we will be able to create synergies to further capitalize upon Hi-Card’s success in China to date. Our goal is to build a sustainable and dynamic financial technology services for enterprises, financial institutions and supply chains that offer safe and cost-effective solutions that encompass a wide variety of business and management needs.”