FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (“FirstCash” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq:
FCFS) today announced that it has closed its previously announced
acquisition of American First Finance (“AFF”). The completion of
the acquisition establishes FirstCash’s entry into the large and
growing lease to own and point-of-sale payment space.
“This is an exciting day as we welcome AFF to
the FirstCash team,” said Rick Wessel, FirstCash’s chief executive
officer. “Together, we are well positioned to drive further
expansion and growth in both pawn and the complementary retail
point-of-sale payment space and further diversify our revenue
opportunities, while serving our customers with a wider set of
innovative capabilities.”
In connection with the completion of the
transaction, effective December 16, 2021, the Company completed its
previously announced holding company reorganization creating a
newly-formed public company named FirstCash Holdings, Inc, which
replaced FirstCash, Inc. as the public company trading on
Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “FCFS”. Each outstanding share
of FirstCash, Inc. has been converted into an equivalent
corresponding share of common stock in FirstCash Holdings,
Inc. having the same designations, rights, powers and preferences
and the qualifications, limitations and restrictions as the
corresponding FirstCash, Inc. shares that were converted.
FirstCash, Inc. now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary
of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. This holding company
reorganization is intended to be a tax-free transaction for federal
income tax purposes for the Company’s shareholders.
As previously announced, Doug Rippel, former
Chairman and Founder of American First Finance, has joined the
FirstCash Board of Directors following the closing of the
transaction.
About FirstCash
FirstCash is a leading international operator of
pawn stores and a leading provider of technology-driven
point-of-sale payment solutions, both focused on serving cash and
credit constrained consumers. FirstCash’s more than 2,800 pawn
stores buy and sell a wide variety of jewelry, electronics, tools,
appliances, sporting goods, musical instruments and other
merchandise and make small consumer pawn loans secured by pledged
personal property.
American First Finance, a wholly owned
subsidiary of FirstCash, provides a nationwide network of more than
6,500 active merchant partner locations that provide consumer goods
and services to their shoppers and offer AFF’s retail finance
solutions to facilitate payments on such transactions. As one of
the largest omni-channel providers of “no credit required” payment
options, AFF’s technology provides its merchant partners with
seamless leasing and financing experiences in-store, online,
in-cart and on mobile devices.
FirstCash is a component company in both the
Standard & Poor’s MidCap 400 Index® and the
Russell 2000 Index®. FirstCash’s common stock
(ticker symbol “FCFS”) is traded on the Nasdaq,
the creator of the world’s first electronic stock market.
Forward-Looking Information
This release contains forward-looking
statements, including statements concerning the Company’s or
management’s intentions, expectations, or predictions about future
results or events. Forward-looking statements, as that term is
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
“believes,” “projects,” “expects,” “may,” “estimates,” “should,”
“plans,” “targets,” “intends,” “could,” “would,” “will,”
“anticipates,” “potential,” “confident,” “optimistic,” or the
negative thereof, or other variations thereon, or comparable
terminology, or by discussions of strategy, objectives, estimates,
guidance, expectations and future plans. Forward-looking statements
can also be identified by the fact these statements do not relate
strictly to historical or current matters. Rather, forward-looking
statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities,
trends or results. Because forward-looking statements relate to
matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently
subject to risks and uncertainties. The forward looking statements
contained in this release include, without limitation, statements
related to the anticipated benefits of the AFF transaction, the
anticipated impact of the transaction on the combined company’s
business and future financial and operating results and the
Company’s goals, plans and projections with respect to its
operations, financial position and business strategy.
These forward-looking statements are made to
provide the public with management’s current expectations with
regard to the AFF transaction. Although the Company believes the
expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are
reasonable, there can be no assurances such expectations will prove
to be accurate. Security holders are cautioned that such
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Certain
factors may cause results to differ materially from those
anticipated by the forward-looking statements made in this release.
Such factors may include, without limitation, risks associated with
the CFPB lawsuit filed against the Company, including the
incurrence of meaningful expenses, reputational damage, monetary
damages and other penalties; risks relating to the AFF transaction,
including the failure of the transaction to deliver the estimated
value and benefits expected by the Company, the incurrence of
unexpected future costs, liabilities or obligations as a result of
the transaction, the effect of the transaction on the ability of
the Company to retain and hire personnel and maintain relationships
with retail partners, consumers and others with whom the Company
and AFF do business, the ability of the Company to successfully
integrate AFF’s operations, the ability of the Company to
successfully implement its plans, forecasts and other expectations
with respect to AFF’s business after the closing, the impact of the
additional debt incurred to complete the transaction on the
Company’s leverage ratio, interest expense and other business and
financial impacts and restrictions due to the additional debt, and
other risks and uncertainties inherent in a transaction of this
size, (1) related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which include risks and
uncertainties related to the current unknown duration of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of governmental responses that have
been, and may in the future be, imposed in response to the
pandemic, including stimulus programs which could adversely impact
lending demand, vaccine mandates which could have an adverse impact
on the Company’s ability to retain its employees and regulations
which could adversely affect the Company’s ability to continue to
fully operate, potential changes in consumer behavior and shopping
patterns which could impact demand for both the Company’s pawn loan
and retail products, labor shortages, the deterioration in the
economic conditions in the United States and Latin America which
potentially could have an impact on discretionary consumer
spending, and currency fluctuations, primarily involving the
Mexican peso and (2) discussed and described in (i) the Company’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on
February 1, 2021, including the risks described in Part 1, Item 1A,
“Risk Factors” thereof, and (ii) in the other reports filed with
the SEC, including the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for
the periods ended March 31, 2021, June 30, 2021 and September 30,
2021 and its Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on
December 7, 2021. Many of these risks and uncertainties are beyond
the ability of the Company to control, nor can the Company predict,
in many cases, all of the risks and uncertainties that could cause
its actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements
contained in this release speak only as of the date of this
release, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or
undertaking to report any updates or revisions to any such
statement to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations or
any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such
statement is based, except as required by law.
Contacts for FirstCash
Gar JacksonGlobal IR GroupPhone: (817)
886-6998Email: gar@globalirgroup.com
Doug Orr, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
OfficerPhone: (817)
258-2650Email: investorrelations@firstcash.comWebsite: investors.firstcash.com
Aaron Palash or Kara SperryJoele Frank, Wilkinson
Brimmer Katcher212-355-4449
FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024