Connect with us

ZIP ANNOUNCES DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE SEZZLE, SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH STRATEGY AND PATH TO PROFITABILITY AND EQUITY CAPITAL RAISE OF UP TO A$198.7 MILLION[1]

ZIP ANNOUNCES DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE SEZZLE, SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH STRATEGY AND PATH TO PROFITABILITY AND EQUITY CAPITAL RAISE OF UP TO A$198.7 MILLION[1]
PR Newswire
MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 27, 2022

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 27, 2022 /PRNewswir…

Published

on

ZIP ANNOUNCES DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE SEZZLE, SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH STRATEGY AND PATH TO PROFITABILITY AND EQUITY CAPITAL RAISE OF UP TO A$198.7 MILLION[1]

PR Newswire

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Zip Co Limited (ASX: Z1P) ("Zip") and Sezzle Inc. (ASX:SZL) ("Sezzle") are pleased to announce they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Zip has agreed to acquire Sezzle in an all-scrip transaction by way of a statutory merger under the laws of the State of Delaware (the "Proposed Transaction"). Subject to the satisfaction or waiver of specified closing conditions, Sezzle stockholders will be entitled to receive 0.98 Zip ordinary shares for every share of Sezzle common stock owned (including as represented by a CHESS depository interest ("CDI") in Sezzle)2. The total consideration for the Sezzle shares in the Proposed Transaction represents an implied value of Sezzle of approximately A$491 million (based on the trading price of Zip ordinary shares on the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX") as of the close at 25 February 2022)3. The Proposed Transaction values Sezzle at a 22.0% premium based on current spot prices of A$1.78 (Sezzle) and A$2.21 (Zip) as of 25 February 2022, and a 31.7% premium based on a 30-day volume weighted average price ("VWAP") of Sezzle's common stock on the ASX4. Upon implementation of the Proposed Transaction and the Placement (as defined below), Zip shareholders will own approximately 78% of the combined group and Sezzle stockholders will own approximately the remaining 22%5. Closing of the Proposed Transaction is expected to occur by the end of the third quarter of CY2022.

Zip is also pleased to announce a A$148.7 million fully underwritten placement to eligible institutional, professional and sophisticated investors (the "Placement"), and a non-underwritten share purchase plan to eligible Zip shareholders in Australia and New Zealand to raise up to A$50 million (the "SPP")6,7. Proceeds of the Placement and SPP will help Zip strengthen its balance sheet and positions Zip for sustainable growth by providing more capital runway to execute on the potential synergies from the Proposed Transaction8

Zip is a leading global "buy now, pay later" ("BNPL") provider9, creating innovative, responsible and fair payments products that help businesses grow and allow consumers to take control of their finances. With a footprint across 14 geographies, Zip is a global leader in digital retail finance and payments. Zip offers innovative solutions and people-centred products that connect millions of customers with its global network of tens of thousands of merchants. Sezzle, a certified B Corp headquartered in the United States ("U.S.") and listed on the ASX, is a U.S. BNPL player with strength in small and medium businesses ("SMB") supported by omni-channel solutions. Sezzle's payments platform increases the purchasing power for millions of consumers by offering interest-free installment plans at online stores and in-store locations. Sezzle also has a long-term installment capability off balance sheet supported by its proprietary technology, and pioneered Sezzle Up, a product that allows users to buy now, pay later while building their credit scores. The combination of Zip and Sezzle is expected to result in pro forma 8.8 million customers and pro forma 60.5k merchants in the U.S.10.

The Proposed Transaction, which has been unanimously approved by both companies' boards of directors, and the mergers and acquisitions committee of the board of directors of Sezzle, capitalises on Zip and Sezzle's shared mission to financially empower the next generation. It advances both companies' strategic objectives to be a global and U.S. leader in the BNPL industry and to drive a high growth ecosystem that brings merchants and customers together. The Proposed Transaction brings together industry leading BNPL talent and has the potential to generate substantial synergy benefits to accelerate both companies' path to profitability.

"We are delighted to be bringing Zip and Sezzle together under a transformational transaction that is expected to deliver immediate scale and enhanced growth, which will support our path to profitability. Combining with Sezzle positions us as a leading global BNPL provider and prioritises our ability to win in the important U.S. market," said Larry Diamond, Co-Founder and Global CEO of Zip. "Pete and I have known Charlie and Paul (co-founders of Sezzle) for some time, and we've been impressed by what the Sezzle team has achieved. Their responsible lending, their Sezzle Up credit builder programme, as well as their B Corp certification is to be admired. We're excited to welcome the entire Sezzle team on our journey, as we continue our mission towards being the first payment choice, everywhere and every day."

"We are extremely excited about the opportunity to create a leader in the financial services industry by combining with Zip and its management team led by Larry and Pete. Paul and I believe it will be a great cultural fit for both our organisations and we're excited to be part of Zip's next chapter," stated Charlie Youakim, Co-founder, Executive Chairman, and CEO of Sezzle. "I believe the transaction will position us to win in the U.S. and globally."

A summary of the key terms of the Proposed Transaction is included in Appendix A to this announcement. An Investor Presentation, which includes additional information regarding the Proposed Transaction (including a summary of certain key risks associated with the Proposed Transaction) has also been lodged with the ASX and should be read together with this announcement, together with a copy of the merger agreement in Appendix D. Shareholders are also referred to the 'Important Notices' section of this announcement, and in particular to the paragraph titled 'Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements' in relation to the risks and uncertainties associated with the targeted potential synergies and other forward-looking statements in connection with the Proposed Transaction.

Compelling strategic and financial rationale

The Proposed Transaction is expected to deliver the scale to support sustainable growth and the path to profitability, creating enhanced value for Zip and Sezzle securityholders, as summarised below.

1.       Significantly enhances Zip's scale and product offering, with the capabilities to accelerate in the U.S.

  • Significant untapped market potential as BNPL represents 2.1% of global eCommerce spend in a $25 trillion addressable retail market11.
  • As one of the largest BNPL markets globally, the U.S. continues to be the highest priority for Zip and Sezzle.
  • With enhanced scale across 8.8 million customers and 60.5k merchants in the U.S., approximately 60% of the TTV of the combined business is estimated to be derived from the U.S., up from Zip's 48% as of 31 December 202112.

2.       Provides meaningful customer benefits unlocking BNPL anywhere for Sezzle customers and provides Zip customers access to Sezzle's U.S. merchant network

  • Broadened product suite to drive increased customer engagement in a combined ecosystem with merchants, thereby reducing customer acquisition costs.
  • Complementary models and flexible solutions that enable Zip and Sezzle customers access to BNPL everywhere, expected to drive increased customer engagement across both app and checkout.
  • Potential benefits across improved unit economics, expected to attract new customers and support higher frequency of usage.

3.       Brings together highly complementary enterprise and SMB merchant networks with a strengthened set of capabilities to win together, across a diverse set of verticals

  • Combining Zip's strength in global enterprise and Sezzle's SMB focus to create deeper merchant experiences and offerings.
  • Enhanced proposition for U.S. merchants through breadth of product suite, channels and industry verticals.
  • Risk management bolstered by combined proprietary credit platforms that drive informed decision making for merchants in an effort to deliver profitable outcomes.

4.       Enables potential material cost synergies to be achieved and opportunities for improved unit economics, supporting Zip's path to profitability

  • Potential material cost synergies and opportunities for revenue and margin uplift with targeted potential EBTDA benefits of up to c. A$130 million EBTDA in FY24, of which A$60-80 million EBTDA are expected to be cost synergies13,14.
  • First realisation of potential synergies targeted in FY23 with initiatives across two key categories: (1) operating expenses and (2) revenue and net transaction margin opportunities.
  • Zip and Sezzle are engaging in integration planning for the businesses including across key functions, brands and technology. Zip intends on retaining a significant footprint in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Sezzle is headquartered in the U.S..

5.       Integration path to deliver near-term financial benefits including accretion and balance sheet support to deliver sustainable growth and realisation of potential synergies; potential to create significant value for Zip and Sezzle securityholders

  • The Proposed Transaction is expected to be accretive to revenue per share and EBTDA per share in FY24F, assuming the full impact of the targeted potential synergies15.
  • Supports path to EBTDA profitability with expected EBTDA and cash flow positive during FY24, assuming the full impact of the targeted potential synergies16.
  • Balance sheet strength positioned for sustainable growth following the Placement, with more capital runway to execute on the potential synergies.
  • Improved capital recycling driven by an increase in volume coming from Pay in 4 to c. 60% (an increase from c. 50% in volume coming from Pay in 4 for Zip).

Management and Board

Zip and Sezzle strongly believe that it is important to combine with culturally aligned partners that have common vision and shared objectives. Sezzle's culture of empowering customers through products such as Sezzle Up is fully aligned with Zip's own ethos.

In order to ensure alignment on delivery of the combined company strategy, as part of the Proposed Transaction Zip will expand the Zip board of directors to nine members, comprising three persons appointed by Sezzle (being, Co-Founder & CEO of Sezzle, Charlie Youakim as an Executive Director, Paul Lahiff and Mike Cutter as Non-Executive Directors), and an independent director mutually agreed between Zip and Sezzle. Diane Smith-Gander will remain the Independent Chairperson of Zip. Upon closing, Charlie Youakim will become President and CEO of the Americas (U.S., Mexico and Canada) and Executive Director & President of Sezzle, Paul Paradis will join the U.S. leadership team.

Board Recommendations

The Zip board of directors has unanimously determined that the Proposed Transaction is in the best interests of Zip and its shareholders and recommends that Zip shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions necessary to implement the Proposed Transaction.

The Sezzle board of directors established a special committee of the board consisting solely of independent directors of Sezzle (the "Mergers and Acquisitions Committee") to review, analyse and make recommendations to the Sezzle board of directors with respect to potential opportunities for business combinations, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, divestitures and other similar change of control transactions involving Sezzle, and determine whether any such transaction is in the best interests of Sezzle and Sezzle's minority stockholders. The Sezzle board of directors (acting upon the unanimous recommendation of the Mergers and Acquisitions Committee) unanimously determined that the Proposed Transaction is fair and in the best interests of Sezzle and its stockholders and those materially affected by Sezzle's conduct, and promotes the public benefit. Sezzle's directors unanimously recommend that Sezzle stockholders vote in favour of the Proposed Transaction.

Indicative Timetable and Next Steps

Subject to the receipt of the requisite Zip and Sezzle securityholder approvals, and the satisfaction or waiver of the other conditions to closing, Zip expects to complete the Proposed Transaction by the end of the third quarter of CY2022.  

Zip and Sezzle securityholders do not need to take any action at the present time.

A notice of the meeting and proxy statement for the required meeting of Sezzle stockholders, when available, will contain additional details regarding the Proposed Transaction. Zip will also provide Zip shareholders with a notice of extraordinary general meeting in respect of the required Zip shareholder approvals in due course.

Further information about the date of the securityholder meetings to consider the necessary resolutions required to proceed with the Proposed Transaction will be provided in due course.

In connection with the Proposed Transaction, Zip will also file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") a registration statement on Form F-4 (which will include a definitive proxy statement of Sezzle and a prospectus of Zip with respect to the Zip ordinary shares and Zip ADRs to be issued to Sezzle stockholders in the Proposed Transaction) that will be provided to Sezzle stockholders.

Subject to certain exceptions, each of Sezzle's co-founders, Charlie Youakim and Paul Paradis (accounting for 48% of Sezzle's outstanding shares of common stock as at 25 February 2022), and Zip's co-founders, Larry Diamond and Peter Gray (accounting for 12% of issued Zip ordinary shares as at 25 February 2022), have agreed to vote in favour of the Proposed Transaction.

As part of the Proposed Transaction, Zip is also establishing an American Depository Receipts program, with such securities required to be listed on a U.S. exchange as a condition to closing of the Proposed Transaction (the "Zip ADRs")17. American Depository Receipts allow U.S. investors to invest in non-US companies (such as Zip) and give non-U.S. companies easier access to the U.S. capital markets. As Zip will have undertaken this process as part of the Proposed Transaction, this provides Zip with a pathway to explore a U.S. IPO in the future and/or a greater opportunity to access new pools of capital in the U.S..

Placement

Zip is undertaking a fully underwritten institutional Placement to eligible institutional, professional and sophisticated investors to raise approximately A$148.7 million at a fixed price of A$1.90 (the "Placement Price"). This represents a:

  • 14% discount to Zip's last closing price on 25 February 2022 of A$2.21 per share; and
  • 15% discount to the VWAP of Zip ordinary shares traded during the 5 trading days up to and including 25 February 2022 of A$2.23 per share.

The Placement is fully underwritten18. The Placement will result in the issue of approximately 78.3 million Zip ordinary shares (the "Placement Shares"), representing approximately 13.3% of Zip's existing shares on issue19.  The Placement Shares will rank equally with existing Zip ordinary shares and are expected to settle on 3 March 2022 and commence trading on 4 March 2022.

The Placement is not conditional on the Proposed Transaction completing and is occurring without Zip shareholder approval under Zip's ASX Listing Rule 7.1 placement capacity.

Proceeds of the Placement will help Zip strengthen its balance sheet and positions Zip for sustainable growth by providing more capital runway to execute on potential synergies from the Proposed Transaction.20

SPP

Following completion of the Placement, eligible Zip shareholders in Australia and New Zealand21 will have the opportunity to participate in a non-underwritten SPP to raise up to A$50 million22. Under the SPP, eligible shareholders will have the opportunity to apply for up to A$30,000 of new Zip ordinary shares without incurring broker or transaction costs23.

The issue price of the new Zip ordinary shares to be issued under the SPP ("SPP Shares") will be the lower of:

  • the Placement Price of A$1.90; and
  • a 2% discount to the 5 day VWAP of Zip ordinary shares up to and including the closing date of the SPP (currently scheduled for 1 April 2022).

The SPP Shares will rank equally with existing Zip ordinary shares from their issue date.

The SPP is not conditional on the Proposed Transaction completing.  Full details of the SPP will be set out in the SPP offer booklet, which is expected to be released to the ASX and made available to eligible shareholders on the SPP offer opening date of 11 March 2022.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. The Placement Shares and the SPP Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the US Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States except in transactions exempt from, or not subject to, the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and applicable US state securities laws. The SPP Shares will only be offered and sold outside the United States in compliance with Regulation S under the US Securities Act.

HY 2022 earnings

In addition to today's announcement, Zip reported record revenues and transaction volumes for the half-year ended 31 December 2021 (HY 2022). Zip's HY 2022 results have also been lodged on the ASX.

Advisers

BofA Securities and Jarden-Evercore are acting as financial advisers to Zip. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is acting as U.S. legal counsel and Arnold Bloch Leibler is acting as Australian legal counsel to Zip.

Sezzle is advised by financial adviser Goldman Sachs. Ropes & Gray is acting as U.S. legal counsel and Squire Patton Boggs is acting as Australian legal counsel to the Merger and Acquisitions Committee of the board of directors of Sezzle.

Release approved by the board of directors of Zip and the board of directors of Sezzle.

Shareholders and investors are encouraged to participate in a Conference Call (Call ID "Zip 1") to discuss the results and announcement on Monday, 28th February 2022 at 10:30 AM AEDT.

The dial in details are as follows:

Reference the Call ID: "Zip 1".

Participant Toll free


Australia:

1800 144 837

Czech Republic:

800 700 539

Hong Kong:

800 901 494

India:

000 800 100 7615

Japan:

0053 116 0855

Mexico:

001 800 514 6145

New Zealand:

080 044 9207

Singapore:

800 101 2018

South Africa:

080 098 1020

U.K.:

0808 101 1183

US:

800 895 3361

For all other countries, the call can be accessed by Toll number.
Participant Toll                        +1 785 424 1062

Alternatively, you can access the audio-only webcast HERE or visit the below link.
https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/3655199/71209937596300D1BF2528CC09B4C4F3 
Note: Q&A functionality is only available through the conference call line. 

For more information, please contact:

Zip Investors:

Vivienne Lee
Investor Relations
vivienne.lee@zip.co

Kerry Parkin
Director, PR (Global)
kerry.parkin@zip.co
+44 7738 987082

Katherine Kim
Teneo, U.S.
katherine.kim@teneo.com
+1 917 455 4102

Nigel Kassulke
Teneo, Australia
nigel.kassulke@teneo.com
+61 407 904 874

For general investor enquiries, email investors@zip.co

Sezzle Investors:

Lee Brading, CFA
Investor Relations
InvestorRelations@sezzle.com
+1 651 240 6001

Justin Clyne
Company Secretary
jclyne@clynecorporate.com.au
+61 407 123 143


About Zip

Zip is a leading global financial services company, offering innovative, people-centred products that bring customers and merchants together. On a mission to be the first payment choice everywhere and every day, Zip offers point-of-sale credit and digital payment services in 14 geographies around the world, including through strategic investments, connecting millions of customers with its global network of tens of thousands of merchants.

One of the fastest growing BNPL providers globally, Zip has a presence in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, India, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States. Zip provides fair, flexible and transparent payment options to individual consumers and SMBs, helping them to take control of their financial future and helping merchants to grow their businesses. Zip is committed to responsible lending and also owns Pocketbook, a leading personal financial management tool. Founded in Australia in 2013, Zip now employs over 1,500 Zipsters worldwide.

For more information, visit: www.zip.co.

About Sezzle

Sezzle is a rapidly growing fintech company on a mission to financially empower the next generation. Sezzle's payment platform increases the purchasing power for millions of active consumers by offering interest-free instalment plans at online stores and in-store locations. Sezzle's transparent, inclusive and seamless payment option allows consumers to take control over their spending, be more responsible, and gain access to financial freedom. When consumers apply, approval is instant, and their credit scores are not impacted, unless the consumer elects to opt-in to a credit building feature, called Sezzle Up.

The increase in purchasing power for consumers can lead to increased sales and basket sizes for more than 47,000 active merchants that offer Sezzle.

For more information, visit sezzle.com.

Sezzle's CDIs are issued in reliance on the exemption from registration contained in Regulation S of the US Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") for offers of securities which are made outside the US. Accordingly, the CDIs have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act or the laws of any state or other jurisdiction in the US. As a result of relying on the Regulation S exemption, the CDIs are 'restricted securities' under Rule 144 of the Securities Act. This means that you are unable to sell the CDIs into the US or to a US person who is not a qualified institutional buyer ("QIB") for the foreseeable future, unless the re–sale of the CDIs is registered under the Securities Act or another exemption is available. To enforce the above transfer restrictions, all CDIs issued bear a FOR Financial Product designation on the ASX. This designation restricts any CDIs from being sold on ASX to US persons excluding QIBs. However, you are still able to freely transfer your CDIs on ASX to any person other than a US person who is not a QIB. In addition, hedging transactions with regard to the CDIs may only be conducted in accordance with the Securities Act.

Appendix A: Details of Terms of the Proposed Transaction

Consideration

Subject to the satisfaction or waiver of specified closing conditions, Sezzle stockholders will be entitled to receive 0.98 Zip ordinary shares for every Sezzle common stock owned.  As part of the Proposed Transaction, Zip is also establishing an American Depository Receipts program, with the associated Zip ADRs required to be listed on a U.S. exchange as a condition to closing of the Proposed Transaction.  Accordingly, Sezzle stockholders outside of Australia24 may elect under the definitive merger agreement to receive 0.98 Zip ADRs for every Sezzle common stock owned in lieu of receiving Zip ordinary shares25. The total consideration for the Sezzle shares of common stock in the Proposed Transaction represents an implied value of Sezzle of approximately A$491 million (based on the trading price of Zip ordinary shares on the ASX as of the close at 25 February 2022)26.

Upon implementation of the Proposed Transaction and the Placement, the shares issuable to Sezzle stockholders in the Proposed Transaction will represent approximately 22% of the combined group and the shares held by Zip shareholders immediately prior to the closing of the Proposed Transaction will represent the remaining 78%27.

Conditions precedent

Closing of the Proposed Transaction is subject to certain conditions precedent, including:

  • Approval by at least a majority of the outstanding shares of Sezzle common stock at a Sezzle stockholder meeting28;
  • Approval by Zip shareholders of: (a) the Zip ordinary shares to be issued to the Sezzle stockholders (including the Zip ordinary shares underlying the Zip ADRs to be issued to the Sezzle stockholders) for the purposes of ASX Listing Rule 7.1; and (b) the new Zip employee incentive securities to be issued to the existing employee incentive plan securityholders of Sezzle (as described below) for the purposes of ASX Listing Rule 7.129;
  • The registration statement on Form F-4 and the registration statement on Form F-6 will have become effective under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and to the extent required under Australian law, Zip having lodged a prospectus with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") for the issue of Zip ordinary shares under the Proposed Transaction (unless a waiver is obtained from ASIC);
  • The new Zip ADRs having been authorized for listing on a U.S. securities exchange;
  • Expiration or early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended;
  • Compliance in all material respects by Sezzle and Zip with their respective obligations under the merger agreement and the accuracy of their respective representations and warranties, subject to certain negotiated materiality standards;
  • No material adverse event (as prescribed) having occurred or being reasonably expected to have occurred in respect of Sezzle or Zip prior to closing30; and
  • Further other conditions, including regarding the receipt of regulatory approvals and waivers.

The merger agreement contains mutual non-solicitation of certain third-party acquisition proposals, notification obligations and payment of an agreed termination fee, payable by Sezzle in the amount of A$7.8 million and payable by Zip in the amount of A$31.4 million in certain circumstances (noting certain restrictions on Zip's ability to engage with a third-party acquisition proposal does not apply to Zip where the proposal would not significantly decrease the likelihood, or materially delay, the Proposed Transaction, in addition to exercise of a fiduciary-out to enter into a superior proposal).

Either party has the right to terminate the merger agreement for the Proposed Transaction if completion has not occurred by 28 November 2022, subject to an extension right in favour of each party if the only condition that has not been satisfied as of such date is the expiration or early termination of the HSR waiting period31.  In addition, each party has the right to terminate the merger agreement under the following circumstances, among others: (a) upon exercise of a fiduciary-out to enter into a superior proposal (subject to payment by the terminating party of a termination fee); (b) a breach by the non-terminating party of any of its covenants in the merger agreement or the inaccuracy of any of its representations in the merger agreement, in each case, such that a closing condition would not be satisfied and provided that such breach has not been cured by the prescribed time; (c) a breach by the non-terminating party in any material respect of its no-shop obligations or such other party failing to recommend the Proposed Transaction to its securityholders; and (d) either party's securityholders failing to provide the requisite shareholder approvals for the Proposed Transaction. Zip is also obligated to reimburse Sezzle for its out-of-pocket, documented expenses with respect to obtaining HSR approval up to US$5.0 million if the Proposed Transaction is terminated for failure to obtain such antitrust clearance, which cap may be increased to US$8.0 million in certain prescribed circumstances.

New employee securities

As part of the Proposed Transaction, Zip has agreed to grant at closing up to 15.3 million new options and performance rights in Zip to the existing employee incentive plan securityholders of Sezzle in replacement of their existing unvested employee incentive securities in Sezzle. The new securities will generally be granted on the same terms as the current Sezzle employee incentive securities, except that on exercise of these securities, the securityholder will be able to be issued Zip ordinary shares (rather than common stock in Sezzle). The grant of the new securities is subject to Zip shareholder approval as detailed above.

Other key terms

The following is a summary of some other key terms relating to the Proposed Transaction: 

  • Structure and exchange mechanics: The Proposed Transaction will be effected by way of a statutory merger under the laws of the State of Delaware. As part of this, on closing of the Proposed Transaction Zip will issue the Zip ordinary shares to Computershare Trust Company, N.A. or another third party (in its capacity as the exchange agent) and a depository bank (who will then grant the Zip ADRs over those Zip ordinary shares), and the exchange agent and/or the depository bank (as applicable) will transfer those Zip ordinary shares or Zip ADRs (as applicable) to the relevant Sezzle stockholders on receipt by the exchange agent of their 'letter of transmittal'32. Importantly, under the terms of the merger agreement representations and warranties will not survive closing of the Proposed Transaction and neither party will have contractual recourse against the other party following closing of the Proposed Transaction with respect to a breach of such representations or warranties.
  • New directors: Zip will expand its board of directors to nine members, comprising three persons appointed by Sezzle (being, Co-Founder & CEO of Sezzle, Charlie Youakim as an Executive Director, Paul Lahiff and Mike Cutter as Non-Executive Directors) and an independent director mutually agreed between Zip and Sezzle. Diane Smith-Gander will remain the Independent Chairperson of Zip. The Chair of Zip's Audit and Risk Committee will also be one of the directors selected by Sezzle.
  • Voting agreements: Subject to certain exceptions, each of Sezzle's co-founders, Charlie Youakim and Paul Paradis (accounting for 48% of Sezzle's outstanding shares of common capital stock), and Zip's co-founders, Larry Diamond and Peter Gray (accounting for 12% of issued Zip ordinary shares), have agreed to vote in favour of the Proposed Transaction33.
  • Permitted equity financing: Subject to the terms of the merger agreement, Sezzle is permitted to undertake an equity financing before closing of the Proposed Transaction, which is capped at a maximum amount of 24.7 million Sezzle shares at a minimum price of A$1.53.

Appendix B: Key information for the Placement and SPP

Placement timetable

Event

Date34

Announcement of completion of the Placement

Tuesday, 1 March 2022

Settlement of Placement Shares issued under the Placement

Thursday, 3 March 2022

Allotment and commencement of trading of Placement Shares
issued under the Placement

Friday, 4 March 2022

SPP timetable

Event

Date35

Record date for SPP

7:00pm (AEDT), Friday, 25 February 2022

SPP offer opens and dispatch SPP documents to shareholders

Friday, 11 March 2022

SPP offer closes

5:00pm (AEDT), Friday, 1 April 2022

Announcement of results of the SPP, including scaleback
policy (if applicable)

Wednesday, 6 April 2022

Settlement and allotment of the SPP Shares issued under the
SPP

Friday, 8 April 2022

Expected quotation on the ASX and normal trading of the SPP
Shares issued under the SPP

Monday, 11 April 2022

Dispatch of allotment confirmations / holding statements for
the SPP Shares issued under the SPP

Monday, 11 April 2022

Appendix C: Other financial disclosure

The following table sets out the pro forma historical financial impact of the Proposed Transaction, excluding the impact of any potential synergies, harmonisation of Sezzle's accounting policies to Zip's accounting policies and the finalisation of the purchase price consideration and allocation:36

31 December 2021

Zip

Sezzle37

Pro forma38
(excluding potential
synergies)

Operating metrics39




Global Customers

9.9m

3.4m

13.3m

Global Merchants

81.8k

47.0k

128.8k

P&L (A$m)




Consolidated TTV (LTM)

7,844

2,527

10,372

Consolidated Revenue (LTM)

539

161

699

Consolidated Reported EBTDA (LTM)[40]

(378)

(104)

(512)

Consolidated Reported Profit Before Tax (LTM)

(484)

(105)

(619)

Balance sheet (A$m)




Consolidated Total Assets

4,057

312

4,926

Consolidated Total Equity

1,162

53

1,772

Note: LTM refers to Last Twelve Months.

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Key risks

There are a number of risks associated with the Proposed Transaction, a summary of which is set out in the Investor Presentation lodged with the ASX together with this announcement ("Investor Presentation"). These risks should be read together with this announcement.

The information in this announcement also does not purport to contain all the information which a prospective investor or shareholder in Zip or Sezzle may require in evaluating the Proposed Transaction or a possible investment in Zip or Sezzle and only contains summary information and does not purport to be comprehensive or accurate. The recipient of these materials should consult his, her or its own legal, regulatory, tax, business, financial and accounting advisors to the extent such recipient deems necessary, and such recipient must make his, her or its own investment decision and perform his, her or its own independent investigation and analysis of an investment in Zip, Sezzle or the combined company after the Proposed Transaction.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The prospective financial information included in this announcement (and the Investor Presentation), including the references to the potential impact on EBTDA and the potential synergies, is predictive in character, may be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties and may differ materially from results ultimately achieved.

This announcement (and the Investor Presentation) contain certain forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of the federal securities laws) with respect to the Proposed Transaction, including but not limited to, statements regarding the expected benefits of the Proposed Transaction and the anticipated timing, completion and effects of the Proposed Transaction, strategies, objectives and the products and markets of Zip and Sezzle. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words " estimate," "plan," "project," "forecast," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "target," "contemplate," "potential," "intend," "seek," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "may," "could," "target," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events or trends that are based on current expectations and assumptions. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this announcement (or the Investor Presentation), and on the current expectations of Zip and Sezzle and are not predictions of actual performance, and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies, both general and specific, many of which are beyond Zip's and Sezzle's control, and there is a risk that such predictions, forecasts, projections, and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. Actual results may be materially different from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements and any projections and assumptions upon which these statements are based. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those set out in the Investor Presentation lodged with ASX together with this announcement and: (i) the risk that the Proposed Transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all; (ii) the failure to satisfy the conditions to closing of the Proposed Transaction, including the requisite approvals of the securityholders of Zip and Sezzle and the receipt of certain U.S. and foreign governmental and regulatory approvals; (iii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement; (iv) Sezzle's and Zip's ability to increase its merchant network, its base of consumers and underlying merchant sales; (v) Sezzle's and Zip's ability to effectively manage growth, sustain its growth rate and maintain its market share; (vi) impact of Sezzle's and Zip's exposure to consumer bad debts and insolvency of merchants; (vii) impact of key vendors or merchants failing to comply with legal or regulatory requirements or to provide various services that are important to Sezzle's and Zip's operations; (viii) impact of the integration, support and prominent presentation of Sezzle's and Zip's platform by its merchants; (ix) impact of exchange rate fluctuations in the international markets in which Sezzle and Zip  operate; (x) Sezzle's and Zip's ability to protect its intellectual property rights; (xi) Sezzle's ability to achieve its public benefit purpose and maintain its B Corporation certification; (xii) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the Proposed Transaction on Sezzle's and Zip's business relationships, operating results and business generally and the responses of merchants and business partners to the announcement; (xiii) risks that the Proposed Transaction disrupts current plans and operations of Sezzle and Zip; (xiv) potential difficulties in retaining Sezzle and Zip customers and employees as a result of the Proposed Transaction; (xv) risks related to diverting the attention of the management of Sezzle and Zip from each party's respective ongoing business operations, (xvi) Sezzle's and Zip's estimates of its financial performance, including requirements for additional capital and its ability to raise sufficient funds to meet its needs in the future; (xvii) changes in general economic or political conditions; (xviii) changes in the markets in which Sezzle and Zip competes, including with respect to its competitive landscape, technology evolution or regulatory changes; (xix) impact of the BNPL industry becoming subject to increased regulatory scrutiny; (xx) impact of the costs of complying with various laws and regulations applicable to the BNPL industry in the United States and the international markets in which Sezzle and Zip operate; (xxi) impact of macro-economic conditions on consumer spending; (xxii) slowdowns in securities trading or shifting demand for security trading product; (xxiii) the impact of natural disasters or health epidemics, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; (xxiv) legislative or regulatory changes;  (xxv) impact of operating in a highly competitive industry; (xxvi) reliance on third party service providers; (xxvii) impact of a potential loss of Sezzle's or Zip's key partners and merchant relationships; (xxviii) competition in retaining key employees; (xxix) Sezzle's and Zip's reliance on new products and establishment and maintenance of its brand; (xxx) risks related to data security and privacy, including the impact of any data security breaches, cyberattacks, employee or other internal misconduct, malware, phishing or ransomware, physical security breaches, natural disasters, or similar disruptions; (xxxi) changes to accounting principles and guidelines; (xxxii) potential litigation relating to the Proposed Transaction that could be instituted against Sezzle, Zip or their respective directors and officers, including the effects of any outcomes related thereto; (xxxiii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Zip or against Sezzle related to the merger agreement or the Proposed Transaction (which may result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability); (xxxiv) the price of Sezzle's or Zip's securities may be volatile due to a variety of factors; (xxxv) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after the completion of the Proposed Transaction, and identify and realize additional opportunities; (xxxvi) unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from the Proposed Transaction; (xxxvii) the possibility that competing offers or acquisition proposals for Sezzle or Zip will be made, which could result in termination of the merger agreement; (xxxviii) the risk that Zip shareholders do not approve the Proposed Transaction and (xxxix) Zip's ability to realize the potential synergies contemplated by the Proposed Transaction and integrate the business of Sezzle. The risks and uncertainties may be amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic (and related variants), which has caused significant economic uncertainty. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic (and related variants) impacts Zip's or Sezzle's businesses, operations, and financial results, including the duration and magnitude of such effects, will depend on numerous factors, which are unpredictable, including, but not limited to, the duration and spread of the outbreak, its severity, the actions to contain the virus or treat its impact, and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Key risks" section of Zip's Investor Presentation lodged with the ASX together with this announcement, Sezzle's registration statement on Form 10 (File No.000-56267) (the "Form 10"), Zip's registration statement on Form F-4 and other documents filed by Zip or Sezzle from time to time with the ASX, the ASIC and/or the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

If any of these risks materialize or Sezzle's and Zip's assumptions prove incorrect, actual events and results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that Sezzle and Zip presently do not know or that Sezzle and Zip currently believe is immaterial that could also cause actual events and results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect Sezzle's and Zip's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this announcement. Sezzle and Zip anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Sezzle's and Zip's assessments to change. While Sezzle and Zip may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Sezzle and Zip specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, unless required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Sezzle's and Zip's assessment as of any date subsequent to the date of this announcement. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements. Sezzle and Zip do not give any assurance that either Zip or Sezzle, or the combined company, will achieve the results or other matters set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This announcement relates to the Proposed Transaction. In connection with the Proposed Transaction, Zip will file a registration statement on Form F-4 with the SEC, a Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting in respect of the requisite Zip shareholder approvals and, to the extent required by ASIC, will file a prospectus in Australia with the ASIC in relation to the offer of Zip ordinary shares. The registration statement will include a document that serves as a prospectus of Zip and a proxy statement of Sezzle (the "proxy statement/prospectus"), and each party will file other documents regarding the Proposed Transaction with the SEC, ASIC and the ASX.  

INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE ENTIRE REGISTRATION STATEMENT, PROXY STATEMENT / PROSPECTUS, NOTICE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING, AUSTRALIAN PROSPECTUS (IF ANY), INCLUDING ALL AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THOSE DOCUMENTS, AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC, ASIC AND THE ASX IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY DO AND THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND THE PARTIES TO THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. A definitive proxy statement / prospectus and Australian prospectus (if any) will be mailed to the Sezzle stockholders when it becomes available. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus, the Australian prospectus (if any) and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed free of charge from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or the ASX's website at www.asx.com.au.

The documents filed by Zip or Sezzle with the SEC, ASIC and the ASX also may be obtained free of charge at Zip's or Sezzle's website at http://investors.sezzle.com/ and https://zip.co/investors/.

No Offer or Solicitation

Neither this announcement nor the Investor Presentation constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell any securities in any jurisdiction, or a solicitation of any vote or approval of the Proposed Transaction. Nor may there be any offer, solicitation, or sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

No securities described in this announcement may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and applicable U.S. state securities laws, or pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, such registration requirements. Any securities offered in the Proposed Transaction will be registered under the Securities Act. This announcement should not be construed in any manner as a solicitation or recommendation to any reader of this announcement.

Participants in the Proposed Transaction

Zip, Sezzle and their respective directors and executive officers and other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from stockholders of Sezzle in connection with the Proposed Transaction. Information about Zip's directors and executive officers is available in Zip's Annual Report to Stockholders for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2021 filed with the ASX on 28 September 2021. Information concerning the ownership of Sezzle's securities by Sezzle's directors and executive officers is included in the Company's Registration Statement on Form 10, filed with the SEC on 25 October 2021.

Other information regarding persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be deemed the participants in the proxy solicitation of Sezzle's stockholders in connection with the Proposed Transaction and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be included in the proxy statement / prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC regarding the Proposed Transaction (if and when they become available). Securityholders, potential investors and other readers should read the proxy statement/prospectus carefully when it becomes available before making any voting or investment decisions. You may obtain free copies of these documents from Zip or Sezzle as indicated above.

Financial and Other Information

The financial information contained in this announcement has been taken from or prepared based on the historical financial statements of Zip and Sezzle for the periods presented. An audit of certain of these financial statements has not been completed, and the financial statements do not conform to Regulation S–X promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, such financial information and data may not be included in, may be adjusted in or may be presented differently in any registration statement to be filed with the SEC by Zip in connection with the Proposed Transaction.

This announcement includes certain pro forma financial information. Any such pro forma historical financial information provided in this announcement is for illustrative purposes only and is not represented as being indicative of Zip's and Sezzle's views on its, nor anyone else's, future financial position and/or performance. Any pro forma historical financial information has been prepared by Zip and Sezzle in accordance with the measurement and recognition principles, but not the disclosure requirements, prescribed by the Australian Accounting Standards. In addition, the pro forma financial information in this announcement does not purport to be in compliance with Article 11 of Regulation S–X of the rules and regulations of the SEC.

This announcement includes certain financial measures that have not been prepared in accordance with IFRS or with GAAP (including on a forward-looking basis) such as EBTDA. These non-IFRS and non-GAAP measures are an addition to, and not a substitute for or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with IFRS and GAAP, as applicable, and should not be considered as an alternative to net income, operating income or any other performance measures derived in accordance with IFRS or GAAP. Zip and Sezzle believe that these non-IFRS and non-GAAP measures of financial results (including on a forward-looking basis) provide useful supplemental information to investors about Zip and Sezzle. Zip's and Sezzle's management teams use forward-looking non-IFRS or non-GAAP measures to evaluate their projected financials and operating performance. However, there are a number of limitations related to the use of these non-IFRS or non-GAAP measures and their nearest IFRS or GAAP equivalents, as applicable, including that they exclude significant expenses that are required by IFRS or GAAP to be recorded in Zip's and Sezzle's financial measures. In addition, other companies may calculate non-IFRS or non-GAAP measures differently or may use other measures to calculate their financial performance, and therefore, Zip's and Sezzle's non-IFRS and non-GAAP measures may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Zip and Sezzle are not providing forward–looking IFRS net income or GAAP net income or a reconciliation of expected EBTDA to expected IFRS net income or GAAP net income because, without unreasonable efforts, they are unable to predict with reasonable certainty the non–IFRS and non–GAAP adjustments used to calculate EBTDA. These adjustments are uncertain, depend on various factors and could have a material impact on IFRS or GAAP net income for the future period.

International offer restrictions

This announcement is not a proxy statement or solicitation or a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the Proposed Transaction and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities of Zip, Sezzle or the combined company, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

Please refer to the international offer restrictions set out in the Investor Presentation for further information.

BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION, SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE ENTIRE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND PROXY STATEMENT / PROSPECTUS, NOTICE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING, AUSTRALIAN PROSPECTUS (IF ANY), (INCLUDING ALL AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, ASIC AND THE ASX AND THE DEFINITIVE VERSIONS THEREOF (WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE), AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THESE DOCUMENTS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.

Investors and securityholders may obtain free copies of the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC by Zip or Sezzle through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov and otherwise.

The documents filed by Zip or Sezzle with the SEC also may be obtained free of charge at Zip's or Sezzle's website at http://investors.sezzle.com/ and https://zip.co/investors/.

Appendix D: Merger Agreement

1 Equity capital raise comprises the fully underwritten Placement for A$148.7 million and a non-underwritten SPP for up to A$50 million (subject to Zip's right to increase or decrease the size of the SPP).
2 As part of the Proposed Transaction, Zip is also establishing an American Depository Receipts program (with the Zip ADRs required to be listed on a U.S. exchange as a condition to closing of the Proposed Transaction), and Sezzle stockholders outside of Australia may elect under the definitive merger agreement to receive 0.98 Zip ADRs for every share of Sezzle common stock owned in lieu of receiving Zip ordinary shares. To the extent that eligible Sezzle stockholders do not elect to receive Zip ADRs by a prescribed election date before closing of the Proposed Transaction, they will receive Zip ordinary shares.
3 Implied value calculated on a fully diluted basis and excludes the impact of any permitted equity financing that may be undertaken by Sezzle before closing of the Proposed Transaction in accordance with the merger agreement (which is capped at a maximum amount of 24.7m Sezzle shares at a minimum price of A$1.53). 
4 Based on Zip's spot price of A$2.21 per share and 30-day VWAP of A$2.95 per share, and Sezzle's spot price of A$1.78 per share and 30-day VWAP of A$2.19 per share, in each case as of 25 February 2022.
5 Estimated ownership percentage calculated on a fully diluted basis and assumes the inclusion of 78.3m shares issued under the Placement, and excludes the impact of any permitted equity financing that may be undertaken by Sezzle before closing of the Proposed Transaction in accordance with the merger agreement (which is capped at a maximum amount of 24.7m Sezzle shares at a minimum price of A$1.53).
6 Zip reserves the right to increase or decrease the size of the SPP at its discretion.
7 Eligible shareholders are those registered in Australia and New Zealand subject to exceptions noted in the SPP offer booklet.
8 If the Proposed Transaction does not complete after settlement of the Placement and/or SPP, Zip will use the proceeds from the Placement and/or SPP to improve its balance sheet strength to support growth and for general working capital purposes.
9 Zip has recorded A$4.5bn TTV in the half yearly period to 31 December 2021, representing a 93% growth vs the prior year period.
10 Zip and Sezzle pro forma metrics exclude potential synergies and any customer or merchant overlap. Customer and merchant numbers are based on Zip and Sezzle's definition of customers and merchants: Zip (number of active customer accounts and accredited merchants) and Sezzle (number of active customer and merchant accounts transacting within the last 12 months).
11 WorldPay Global Payments Report, 2021 and eMarketer Global Ecommerce Forecast, 2021.
12 See footnote 10.
13 Refer to page 16 of the Investor Presentation lodged with the ASX together with this announcement for more details on the composition of the potential synergies, including the material assumptions. Investors are also referred to the 'Key Risks' in Appendix B of that presentation (including, without limitation, the risks in section 1.6 (Integration risk and realisation of synergies) and section 1.7 (Future earnings risk) and the 'Important Notices' section of this announcement, and in particular to the paragraph titled 'Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements' in relation to the risks and uncertainties associated with the targeted potential synergies and other forward-looking statements in connection with the Proposed Transaction.
14 EBTDA is a non-international financial reporting standards term ("IFRS") and non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") financial measure. This measure is only used by Zip management to assess performance of the business. Investors should consider these non-IFRS and non-GAAP measures only as a supplement to, not as a substitute for or as superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with IFRS or GAAP, as applicable. In addition, these non-IFRS and non-GAAP measures are unlikely to be comparable with non-IFRS and non-GAAP information provided by other companies. For additional information, please refer to 'Financial and Other Information' in the 'Important Notices' section of this announcement.
15 See footnote 13 and 14.
16 See footnote 13 and 14.
17 See footnote 2.
18 Refer to Appendix C of the Investor Presentation lodged with ASX with this announcement for a summary of the key terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement.
19 Based on Zip's current ordinary shares on issue as at 25 February 2022.
20 See footnote 8.
21 See footnote 7.
22 Zip reserves the right to increase or decrease the size of the SPP at its discretion.
23 Zip reserves the right to scale back applications under the SPP at its discretion.
24 Sezzle stockholders located in Australia may only receive Zip ordinary shares, not Zip ADRs.
25 To the extent that eligible Sezzle stockholders do not elect to receive Zip ADRs by a prescribed election date before closing of the Proposed Transaction, they will only be entitled to receive Zip ordinary shares.
26 See footnote 3.
27 See footnote 5.
28 Under the Proposed Transaction it is proposed that certain existing vested options in Sezzle will be cancelled and exchanged for either Zip ordinary shares or Zip ADRs, and the existing vested employee incentive securities in Sezzle will be cancelled and exchanged for Zip ordinary shares or Zip ADRs. In addition, the existing unvested employee incentive securities will be cancelled and exchanged for Zip performance rights or options. To effect this, Sezzle will need to obtain either a waiver from ASX Listing Rule 6.23.2 or Sezzle stockholder approval for the purposes of ASX Listing Rule 6.23.2.  To the extent Sezzle stockholder approval is required, an additional vote of Sezzle stockholders will be needed under ASX Listing Rule 6.23.2.
29 Zip has obtained confirmation from the ASX that Zip shareholder approval is not required under ASX Listing Rule 11.1.2 ('Proposed change to scale of activities') for the Proposed Transaction.
30 A "material adverse event" expressly excludes, among other things, (a) matters generally affecting the U.S. or foreign economies, financial or securities markets, or political, legislative, or regulatory conditions, or the industry in which such party operates, (b) the negotiation, execution, announcement or pendency of, or entry into the merger agreement or the Proposed Transaction (c) changes in law or regulation, (d) acts of war or terrorism, and (e) the COVID-19 virus or any other epidemic, pandemic or other outbreak of illness or public health event.
31 Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, the waiting period for the Proposed Transaction is 30 days from the time both parties make their respective filings, unless the U.S. Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission issues a request for additional information, in which case the waiting period would be extended until 30 days after substantial compliance with the request, unless otherwise agreed.
32 Subject to Zip's discretion to issue any Zip ordinary shares directly to any Sezzle stockholder to the extent the exchange agent receives the stockholder's relevant letters of transmittal prior to closing.
33 Each of Charlie Youakim, Paul Paradis, Larry Diamond and Peter Gray have made their respective voting commitments via their respective shareholding entities.
34 The above timetable is indicative only and subject to variation. Zip reserves the right to alter the timetable at its absolute discretion and without notice, subject to the ASX Listing Rules and applicable law. All dates and times are Australian Eastern Daylight Time unless otherwise stated.
35 See footnote 34.
36 The historical financial information disclosed does not include any adjustments to Sezzle's accounting policies that may be required to reconcile US GAAP with Zip's IFRS accounting practices. Sezzle financials converted to AUD using exchange rate of 1.3979. Goodwill calculation based on implied purchase price of A$491m and a maximum of 222.3m diluted shares outstanding for Sezzle. Financials are also subject to adjustment for actual purchase price adjustments and costs on the acquisition date of the Proposed Transaction. Refer to page 22 of the Investor Presentation lodged with ASX together with this announcement for more details on the pro forma balance sheet and the estimated impact of the Proposed Transaction (subject to the assumptions mentioned) on Consolidated Total Assets and Consolidated Total Equity. The proceeds from the issuance of capital has been shown net of estimated transaction costs.
37 Based on Sezzle's Preliminary Consolidated Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2021. Actual results are subject to the completion of procedures by Sezzle's independent registered public accounting firm of such consolidated financial statements, which have not yet been completed.
38 Includes the impact of estimated transaction and integration costs.
39 See footnote 10.
40 See footnote 14.

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zip-announces-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-sezzle-supporting-sustainable-growth-strategy-and-path-to-profitability-and-equity-capital-raise-of-up-to-a198-7-million1-301491175.html

SOURCE Sezzle

Read More

Continue Reading

Government

Rand Paul Teases Senate GOP Leader Run – Musk Says “I Would Support”

Rand Paul Teases Senate GOP Leader Run – Musk Says "I Would Support"

Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on Friday hinted that he may jump…

Published

on

Rand Paul Teases Senate GOP Leader Run - Musk Says "I Would Support"

Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on Friday hinted that he may jump into the race to become the next Senate GOP leader, and Elon Musk was quick to support the idea. Republicans must find a successor for periodically malfunctioning Mitch McConnell, who recently announced he'll step down in November, though intending to keep his Senate seat until his term ends in January 2027, when he'd be within weeks of turning 86. 

So far, the announced field consists of two quintessential establishment types: John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota. While John Barrasso's name had been thrown around as one of "The Three Johns" considered top contenders, the Wyoming senator on Tuesday said he'll instead seek the number two slot as party whip. 

Paul used X to tease his potential bid for the position which -- if the GOP takes back the upper chamber in November -- could graduate from Minority Leader to Majority Leader. He started by telling his 5.1 million followers he'd had lots of people asking him about his interest in running...

...then followed up with a poll in which he predictably annihilated Cornyn and Thune, taking a 96% share as of Friday night, with the other two below 2% each. 

Elon Musk was quick to back the idea of Paul as GOP leader, while daring Cornyn and Thune to follow Paul's lead by throwing their names out for consideration by the Twitter-verse X-verse. 

Paul has been a stalwart opponent of security-state mass surveillance, foreign interventionism -- to include shoveling billions of dollars into the proxy war in Ukraine -- and out-of-control spending in general. He demonstrated the latter passion on the Senate floor this week as he ridiculed the latest kick-the-can spending package:   

In February, Paul used Senate rules to force his colleagues into a grueling Super Bowl weekend of votes, as he worked to derail a $95 billion foreign aid bill. "I think we should stay here as long as it takes,” said Paul. “If it takes a week or a month, I’ll force them to stay here to discuss why they think the border of Ukraine is more important than the US border.”

Don't expect a Majority Leader Paul to ditch the filibuster -- he's been a hardy user of the legislative delay tactic. In 2013, he spoke for 13 hours to fight the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director. In 2015, he orated for 10-and-a-half-hours to oppose extension of the Patriot Act

Rand Paul amid his 10 1/2 hour filibuster in 2015

Among the general public, Paul is probably best known as Capitol Hill's chief tormentor of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease during the Covid-19 pandemic. Paul says the evidence indicates the virus emerged from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology. He's accused Fauci and other members of the US government public health apparatus of evading questions about their funding of the Chinese lab's "gain of function" research, which takes natural viruses and morphs them into something more dangerous. Paul has pointedly said that Fauci committed perjury in congressional hearings and that he belongs in jail "without question."   

Musk is neither the only nor the first noteworthy figure to back Paul for party leader. Just hours after McConnell announced his upcoming step-down from leadership, independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr voiced his support: 

In a testament to the extent to which the establishment recoils at the libertarian-minded Paul, mainstream media outlets -- which have been quick to report on other developments in the majority leader race -- pretended not to notice that Paul had signaled his interest in the job. More than 24 hours after Paul's test-the-waters tweet-fest began, not a single major outlet had brought it to the attention of their audience. 

That may be his strongest endorsement yet. 

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/10/2024 - 20:25

Read More

Continue Reading

Government

The Great Replacement Loophole: Illegal Immigrants Score 5-Year Work Benefit While “Waiting” For Deporation, Asylum

The Great Replacement Loophole: Illegal Immigrants Score 5-Year Work Benefit While "Waiting" For Deporation, Asylum

Over the past several…

Published

on

The Great Replacement Loophole: Illegal Immigrants Score 5-Year Work Benefit While "Waiting" For Deporation, Asylum

Over the past several months we've pointed out that there has  been zero job creation for native-born workers since the summer of 2018...

... and that since Joe Biden was sworn into office, most of the post-pandemic job gains the administration continuously brags about have gone foreign-born (read immigrants, mostly illegal ones) workers.

And while the left might find this data almost as verboten as FBI crime statistics - as it directly supports the so-called "great replacement theory" we're not supposed to discuss - it also coincides with record numbers of illegal crossings into the United States under Biden.

In short, the Biden administration opened the floodgates, 10 million illegal immigrants poured into the country, and most of the post-pandemic "jobs recovery" went to foreign-born workers, of which illegal immigrants represent the largest chunk.

Asylum seekers from Venezuela await work permits on June 28, 2023 (via the Chicago Tribune)

'But Tyler, illegal immigrants can't possibly work in the United States whilst awaiting their asylum hearings,' one might hear from the peanut gallery. On the contrary: ever since Biden reversed a key aspect of Trump's labor policies, all illegal immigrants - even those awaiting deportation proceedings - have been given carte blanche to work while awaiting said proceedings for up to five years...

... something which even Elon Musk was shocked to learn.

Which leads us to another question: recall that the primary concern for the Biden admin for much of 2022 and 2023 was soaring prices, i.e., relentless inflation in general, and rising wages in particular, which in turn prompted even Goldman to admit two years ago that the diabolical wage-price spiral had been unleashed in the US (diabolical, because nothing absent a major economic shock, read recession or depression, can short-circuit it once it is in place).

Well, there is one other thing that can break the wage-price spiral loop: a flood of ultra-cheap illegal immigrant workers. But don't take our word for it: here is Fed Chair Jerome Powell himself during his February 60 Minutes interview:

PELLEY: Why was immigration important?

POWELL: Because, you know, immigrants come in, and they tend to work at a rate that is at or above that for non-immigrants. Immigrants who come to the country tend to be in the workforce at a slightly higher level than native Americans do. But that's largely because of the age difference. They tend to skew younger.

PELLEY: Why is immigration so important to the economy?

POWELL: Well, first of all, immigration policy is not the Fed's job. The immigration policy of the United States is really important and really much under discussion right now, and that's none of our business. We don't set immigration policy. We don't comment on it.

I will say, over time, though, the U.S. economy has benefited from immigration. And, frankly, just in the last, year a big part of the story of the labor market coming back into better balance is immigration returning to levels that were more typical of the pre-pandemic era.

PELLEY: The country needed the workers.

POWELL: It did. And so, that's what's been happening.

Translation: Immigrants work hard, and Americans are lazy. But much more importantly, since illegal immigrants will work for any pay, and since Biden's Department of Homeland Security, via its Citizenship and Immigration Services Agency, has made it so illegal immigrants can work in the US perfectly legally for up to 5 years (if not more), one can argue that the flood of illegals through the southern border has been the primary reason why inflation - or rather mostly wage inflation, that all too critical component of the wage-price spiral  - has moderated in in the past year, when the US labor market suddenly found itself flooded with millions of perfectly eligible workers, who just also happen to be illegal immigrants and thus have zero wage bargaining options.

None of this is to suggest that the relentless flood of immigrants into the US is not also driven by voting and census concerns - something Elon Musk has been pounding the table on in recent weeks, and has gone so far to call it "the biggest corruption of American democracy in the 21st century", but in retrospect, one can also argue that the only modest success the Biden admin has had in the past year - namely bringing inflation down from a torrid 9% annual rate to "only" 3% - has also been due to the millions of illegals he's imported into the country.

We would be remiss if we didn't also note that this so often carries catastrophic short-term consequences for the social fabric of the country (the Laken Riley fiasco being only the latest example), not to mention the far more dire long-term consequences for the future of the US - chief among them the trillions of dollars in debt the US will need to incur to pay for all those new illegal immigrants Democrat voters and low-paid workers. This is on top of the labor revolution that will kick in once AI leads to mass layoffs among high-paying, white-collar jobs, after which all those newly laid off native-born workers hoping to trade down to lower paying (if available) jobs will discover that hardened criminals from Honduras or Guatemala have already taken them, all thanks to Joe Biden.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/10/2024 - 19:15

Read More

Continue Reading

Spread & Containment

‘I couldn’t stand the pain’: the Turkish holiday resort that’s become an emergency dental centre for Britons who can’t get treated at home

The crisis in NHS dentistry is driving increasing numbers abroad for treatment. Here are some of their stories.

This clinic in the Turkish resort of Antalya is the official 'dental sponsor' of the Miss England competition. Diana Ibanez-Tirado, Author provided

It’s a hot summer day in the Turkish city of Antalya, a Mediterranean resort with golden beaches, deep blue sea and vibrant nightlife. The pool area of the all-inclusive resort is crammed with British people on sun loungers – but they aren’t here for a holiday. This hotel is linked to a dental clinic that organises treatment packages, and most of these guests are here to see a dentist.

From Norwich, two women talk about gums and injections. A man from Wales holds a tissue close to his mouth and spits blood – he has just had two molars extracted.

The dental clinic organises everything for these dental “tourists” throughout their treatment, which typically lasts from three to 15 days. The stories I hear of what has caused them to travel to Turkey are strikingly similar: all have struggled to secure dental treatment at home on the NHS.

“The hotel is nice and some days I go to the beach,” says Susan*, a hairdresser in her mid-30s from Norwich. “But really, we aren’t tourists like in a proper holiday. We come here because we have no choice. I couldn’t stand the pain.”

Seaside beach resort with mountains in the distance
The Turkish Mediterranean resort of Antalya. Akimov Konstantin/Shutterstock

This is Susan’s second visit to Antalya. She explains that her ordeal started two years earlier:

I went to an NHS dentist who told me I had gum disease … She did some cleaning to my teeth and gums but it got worse. When I ate, my teeth were moving … the gums were bleeding and it was very painful. I called to say I was in pain but the clinic was not accepting NHS patients any more.

The only option the dentist offered Susan was to register as a private patient:

I asked how much. They said £50 for x-rays and then if the gum disease got worse, £300 or so for extraction. Four of them were moving – imagine: £1,200 for losing your teeth! Without teeth I’d lose my clients, but I didn’t have the money. I’m a single mum. I called my mum and cried.

Susan’s mother told her about a friend of hers who had been to Turkey for treatment, then together they found a suitable clinic:

The prices are so much cheaper! Tooth extraction, x-rays, consultations – it all comes included. The flight and hotel for seven days cost the same as losing four teeth in Norwich … I had my lower teeth removed here six months ago, now I’ve got implants … £2,800 for everything – hotel, transfer, treatments. I only paid the flights separately.

In the UK, roughly half the adult population suffers from periodontitis – inflammation of the gums caused by plaque bacteria that can lead to irreversible loss of gums, teeth, and bone. Regular reviews by a dentist or hygienist are required to manage this condition. But nine out of ten dental practices cannot offer NHS appointments to new adult patients, while eight in ten are not accepting new child patients.

Some UK dentists argue that Britons who travel abroad for treatment do so mainly for cosmetic procedures. They warn that dental tourism is dangerous, and that if their treatment goes wrong, dentists in the UK will be unable to help because they don’t want to be responsible for further damage. Susan shrugs this off:

Dentists in England say: ‘If you go to Turkey, we won’t touch you [afterwards].’ But I don’t worry because there are no appointments at home anyway. They couldn’t help in the first place, and this is why we are in Turkey.

‘How can we pay all this money?’

As a social anthropologist, I travelled to Turkey a number of times in 2023 to investigate the crisis of NHS dentistry, and the journeys abroad that UK patients are increasingly making as a result. I have relatives in Istanbul and have been researching migration and trading patterns in Turkey’s largest city since 2016.

In August 2023, I visited the resort in Antalya, nearly 400 miles south of Istanbul. As well as Susan, I met a group from a village in Wales who said there was no provision of NHS dentistry back home. They had organised a two-week trip to Turkey: the 12-strong group included a middle-aged couple with two sons in their early 20s, and two couples who were pensioners. By going together, Anya tells me, they could support each other through their different treatments:

I’ve had many cavities since I was little … Before, you could see a dentist regularly – you didn’t even think about it. If you had pain or wanted a regular visit, you phoned and you went … That was in the 1990s, when I went to the dentist maybe every year.

Anya says that once she had children, her family and work commitments meant she had no time to go to the dentist. Then, years later, she started having serious toothache:

Every time I chewed something, it hurt. I ate soups and soft food, and I also lost weight … Even drinking was painful – tea: pain, cold water: pain. I was taking paracetamol all the time! I went to the dentist to fix all this, but there were no appointments.

Anya was told she would have to wait months, or find a dentist elsewhere:

A private clinic gave me a list of things I needed done. Oh my God, almost £6,000. My husband went too – same story. How can we pay all this money? So we decided to come to Turkey. Some people we know had been here, and others in the village wanted to come too. We’ve brought our sons too – they also need to be checked and fixed. Our whole family could be fixed for less than £6,000.

By the time they travelled, Anya’s dental problems had turned into a dental emergency. She says she could not live with the pain anymore, and was relying on paracetamol.

In 2023, about 6 million adults in the UK experienced protracted pain (lasting more than two weeks) caused by toothache. Unintentional paracetamol overdose due to dental pain is a significant cause of admissions to acute medical units. If left untreated, tooth infections can spread to other parts of the body and cause life-threatening complications – and on rare occasions, death.

In February 2024, police were called to manage hundreds of people queuing outside a newly opened dental clinic in Bristol, all hoping to be registered or seen by an NHS dentist. One in ten Britons have admitted to performing “DIY dentistry”, of which 20% did so because they could not find a timely appointment. This includes people pulling out their teeth with pliers and using superglue to repair their teeth.

In the 1990s, dentistry was almost entirely provided through NHS services, with only around 500 solely private dentists registered. Today, NHS dentist numbers in England are at their lowest level in a decade, with 23,577 dentists registered to perform NHS work in 2022-23, down 695 on the previous year. Furthermore, the precise division of NHS and private work that each dentist provides is not measured.

The COVID pandemic created longer waiting lists for NHS treatment in an already stretched public service. In Bridlington, Yorkshire, people are now reportedly having to wait eight-to-nine years to get an NHS dental appointment with the only remaining NHS dentist in the town.

In his book Patients of the State (2012), Argentine sociologist Javier Auyero describes the “indignities of waiting”. It is the poor who are mostly forced to wait, he writes. Queues for state benefits and public services constitute a tangible form of power over the marginalised. There is an ethnic dimension to this story, too. Data suggests that in the UK, patients less likely to be effective in booking an NHS dental appointment are non-white ethnic groups and Gypsy or Irish travellers, and that it is particularly challenging for refugees and asylum-seekers to access dental care.


This article is part of Conversation Insights
The Insights team generates long-form journalism derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.


In 2022, I experienced my own dental emergency. An infected tooth was causing me debilitating pain, and needed root canal treatment. I was advised this would cost £71 on the NHS, plus £307 for a follow-up crown – but that I would have to wait months for an appointment. The pain became excruciating – I could not sleep, let alone wait for months. In the same clinic, privately, I was quoted £1,300 for the treatment (more than half my monthly income at the time), or £295 for a tooth extraction.

I did not want to lose my tooth because of lack of money. So I bought a flight to Istanbul immediately for the price of the extraction in the UK, and my tooth was treated with root canal therapy by a private dentist there for £80. Including the costs of travelling, the total was a third of what I was quoted to be treated privately in the UK. Two years on, my treated tooth hasn’t given me any more problems.

A better quality of life

Not everyone is in Antalya for emergency procedures. The pensioners from Wales had contacted numerous clinics they found on the internet, comparing prices, treatments and hotel packages at least a year in advance, in a carefully planned trip to get dental implants – artificial replacements for tooth roots that help support dentures, crowns and bridges.

Street view of a dental clinic in Antalya, Turkey
Dental clinic in Antalya, Turkey. Diana Ibanez-Tirado, CC BY-NC-ND

In Turkey, all the dentists I speak to (most of whom cater mainly for foreigners, including UK nationals) consider implants not a cosmetic or luxurious treatment, but a development in dentistry that gives patients who are able to have the procedure a much better quality of life. This procedure is not available on the NHS for most of the UK population, and the patients I meet in Turkey could not afford implants in private clinics back home.

Paul is in Antalya to replace his dentures, which have become uncomfortable and irritating to his gums, with implants. He says he couldn’t find an appointment to see an NHS dentist. His wife Sonia went through a similar procedure the year before and is very satisfied with the results, telling me: “Why have dentures that you need to put in a glass overnight, in the old style? If you can have implants, I say, you’re better off having them.”

Most of the dental tourists I meet in Antalya are white British: this city, known as the Turkish Riviera, has developed an entire economy catering to English-speaking tourists. In 2023, more than 1.3 million people visited the city from the UK, up almost 15% on the previous year.


Read more: NHS dentistry is in crisis – are overseas dentists the answer?


In contrast, the Britons I meet in Istanbul are predominantly from a non-white ethnic background. Omar, a pensioner of Pakistani origin in his early 70s, has come here after waiting “half a year” for an NHS appointment to fix the dental bridge that is causing him pain. Omar’s son had been previously for a hair transplant, and was offered a free dental checkup by the same clinic, so he suggested it to his father. Having worked as a driver for a manufacturing company for two decades in Birmingham, Omar says he feels disappointed to have contributed to the British economy for so long, only to be “let down” by the NHS:

At home, I must wait and wait and wait to get a bridge – and then I had many problems with it. I couldn’t eat because the bridge was uncomfortable and I was in pain, but there were no appointments on the NHS. I asked a private dentist and they recommended implants, but they are far too expensive [in the UK]. I started losing weight, which is not a bad thing at the beginning, but then I was worrying because I couldn’t chew and eat well and was losing more weight … Here in Istanbul, I got dental implants – US$500 each, problem solved! In England, each implant is maybe £2,000 or £3,000.

In the waiting area of another clinic in Istanbul, I meet Mariam, a British woman of Iraqi background in her late 40s, who is making her second visit to the dentist here. Initially, she needed root canal therapy after experiencing severe pain for weeks. Having been quoted £1,200 in a private clinic in outer London, Mariam decided to fly to Istanbul instead, where she was quoted £150 by a dentist she knew through her large family. Even considering the cost of the flight, Mariam says the decision was obvious:

Dentists in England are so expensive and NHS appointments so difficult to find. It’s awful there, isn’t it? Dentists there blamed me for my rotten teeth. They say it’s my fault: I don’t clean or I ate sugar, or this or that. I grew up in a village in Iraq and didn’t go to the dentist – we were very poor. Then we left because of war, so we didn’t go to a dentist … When I arrived in London more than 20 years ago, I didn’t speak English, so I still didn’t go to the dentist … I think when you move from one place to another, you don’t go to the dentist unless you are in real, real pain.

In Istanbul, Mariam has opted not only for the urgent root canal treatment but also a longer and more complex treatment suggested by her consultant, who she says is a renowned doctor from Syria. This will include several extractions and implants of back and front teeth, and when I ask what she thinks of achieving a “Hollywood smile”, Mariam says:

Who doesn’t want a nice smile? I didn’t come here to be a model. I came because I was in pain, but I know this doctor is the best for implants, and my front teeth were rotten anyway.

Dentists in the UK warn about the risks of “overtreatment” abroad, but Mariam appears confident that this is her opportunity to solve all her oral health problems. Two of her sisters have already been through a similar treatment, so they all trust this doctor.

Alt text
An Istanbul clinic founded by Afghan dentists has a message for its UK customers. Diana Ibanez-Tirado, CC BY-NC-ND

The UK’s ‘dental deserts’

To get a fuller understanding of the NHS dental crisis, I’ve also conducted 20 interviews in the UK with people who have travelled or were considering travelling abroad for dental treatment.

Joan, a 50-year-old woman from Exeter, tells me she considered going to Turkey and could have afforded it, but that her back and knee problems meant she could not brave the trip. She has lost all her lower front teeth due to gum disease and, when I meet her, has been waiting 13 months for an NHS dental appointment. Joan tells me she is living in “shame”, unable to smile.

In the UK, areas with extremely limited provision of NHS dental services – known as as “dental deserts” – include densely populated urban areas such as Portsmouth and Greater Manchester, as well as many rural and coastal areas.

In Felixstowe, the last dentist taking NHS patients went private in 2023, despite the efforts of the activist group Toothless in Suffolk to secure better access to NHS dentists in the area. It’s a similar story in Ripon, Yorkshire, and in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, where nearly 25,000 patients have been de-registered from NHS dentists since 2021.

Data shows that 2 million adults must travel at least 40 miles within the UK to access dental care. Branding travel for dental care as “tourism” carries the risk of disguising the elements of duress under which patients move to restore their oral health – nationally and internationally. It also hides the immobility of those who cannot undertake such journeys.

The 90-year-old woman in Dumfries & Galloway who now faces travelling for hours by bus to see an NHS dentist can hardly be considered “tourism” – nor the Ukrainian war refugees who travelled back from West Sussex and Norwich to Ukraine, rather than face the long wait to see an NHS dentist.

Many people I have spoken to cannot afford the cost of transport to attend dental appointments two hours away – or they have care responsibilities that make it impossible. Instead, they are forced to wait in pain, in the hope of one day securing an appointment closer to home.

Billboard advertising a dental clinic in Turkey
Dental clinics have mushroomed in recent years in Turkey, thanks to the influx of foreign patients seeking a wide range of treatments. Diana Ibanez-Tirado, CC BY-NC-ND

‘Your crisis is our business’

The indignities of waiting in the UK are having a big impact on the lives of some local and foreign dentists in Turkey. Some neighbourhoods are rapidly changing as dental and other health clinics, usually in luxurious multi-storey glass buildings, mushroom. In the office of one large Istanbul medical complex with sections for hair transplants and dentistry (plus one linked to a hospital for more extensive cosmetic surgery), its Turkish owner and main investor tells me:

Your crisis is our business, but this is a bazaar. There are good clinics and bad clinics, and unfortunately sometimes foreign patients do not know which one to choose. But for us, the business is very good.

This clinic only caters to foreign patients. The owner, an architect by profession who also developed medical clinics in Brazil, describes how COVID had a major impact on his business:

When in Europe you had COVID lockdowns, Turkey allowed foreigners to come. Many people came for ‘medical tourism’ – we had many patients for cosmetic surgery and hair transplants. And that was when the dental business started, because our patients couldn’t see a dentist in Germany or England. Then more and more patients started to come for dental treatments, especially from the UK and Ireland. For them, it’s very, very cheap here.

The reasons include the value of the Turkish lira relative to the British pound, the low cost of labour, the increasing competition among Turkish clinics, and the sheer motivation of dentists here. While most dentists catering to foreign patients are from Turkey, others have arrived seeking refuge from war and violence in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and beyond. They work diligently to rebuild their lives, careers and lost wealth.

Regardless of their origin, all dentists in Turkey must be registered and certified. Hamed, a Syrian dentist and co-owner of a new clinic in Istanbul catering to European and North American patients, tells me:

I know that you say ‘Syrian’ and people think ‘migrant’, ‘refugee’, and maybe think ‘how can this dentist be good?’ – but Syria, before the war, had very good doctors and dentists. Many of us came to Turkey and now I have a Turkish passport. I had to pass the exams to practise dentistry here – I study hard. The exams are in Turkish and they are difficult, so you cannot say that Syrian doctors are stupid.

Hamed talks excitedly about the latest technology that is coming to his profession: “There are always new materials and techniques, and we cannot stop learning.” He is about to travel to Paris to an international conference:

I can say my techniques are very advanced … I bet I put more implants and do more bone grafting and surgeries every week than any dentist you know in England. A good dentist is about practice and hand skills and experience. I work hard, very hard, because more and more patients are arriving to my clinic, because in England they don’t find dentists.

Dental equipment in a Turkish treatment room
Dentists in Turkey boast of using the latest technology. Diana Ibanez-Tirado, CC BY-NC-ND

While there is no official data about the number of people travelling from the UK to Turkey for dental treatment, investors and dentists I speak to consider that numbers are rocketing. From all over the world, Turkey received 1.2 million visitors for “medical tourism” in 2022, an increase of 308% on the previous year. Of these, about 250,000 patients went for dentistry. One of the most renowned dental clinics in Istanbul had only 15 British patients in 2019, but that number increased to 2,200 in 2023 and is expected to reach 5,500 in 2024.

Like all forms of medical care, dental treatments carry risks. Most clinics in Turkey offer a ten-year guarantee for treatments and a printed clinical history of procedures carried out, so patients can show this to their local dentists and continue their regular annual care in the UK. Dental treatments, checkups and maintaining a good oral health is a life-time process, not a one-off event.

Many UK patients, however, are caught between a rock and a hard place – criticised for going abroad, yet unable to get affordable dental care in the UK before and after their return. The British Dental Association has called for more action to inform these patients about the risks of getting treated overseas – and has warned UK dentists about the legal implications of treating these patients on their return. But this does not address the difficulties faced by British patients who are being forced to go abroad in search of affordable, often urgent dental care.

A global emergency

The World Health Organization states that the explosion of oral disease around the world is a result of the “negligent attitude” that governments, policymakers and insurance companies have towards including oral healthcare under the umbrella of universal healthcare. It as if the health of our teeth and mouth is optional; somehow less important than treatment to the rest of our body. Yet complications from untreated tooth decay can lead to hospitalisation.

The main causes of oral health diseases are untreated tooth decay, severe gum disease, toothlessness, and cancers of the lip and oral cavity. Cases grew during the pandemic, when little or no attention was paid to oral health. Meanwhile, the global cosmetic dentistry market is predicted to continue growing at an annual rate of 13% for the rest of this decade, confirming the strong relationship between socioeconomic status and access to oral healthcare.

In the UK since 2018, there have been more than 218,000 admissions to hospital for rotting teeth, of which more than 100,000 were children. Some 40% of children in the UK have not seen a dentist in the past 12 months. The role of dentists in prevention of tooth decay and its complications, and in the early detection of mouth cancer, is vital. While there is a 90% survival rate for mouth cancer if spotted early, the lack of access to dental appointments is causing cases to go undetected.

The reasons for the crisis in NHS dentistry are complex, but include: the real-term cuts in funding to NHS dentistry; the challenges of recruitment and retention of dentists in rural and coastal areas; pay inequalities facing dental nurses, most of them women, who are being badly hit by the cost of living crisis; and, in England, the 2006 Dental Contract that does not remunerate dentists in a way that encourages them to continue seeing NHS patients.

The UK is suffering a mass exodus of the public dentistry workforce, with workers leaving the profession entirely or shifting to the private sector, where payments and life-work balance are better, bureaucracy is reduced, and prospects for career development look much better. A survey of general dental practitioners found that around half have reduced their NHS work since the pandemic – with 43% saying they were likely to go fully private, and 42% considering a career change or taking early retirement.

Reversing the UK’s dental crisis requires more commitment to substantial reform and funding than the “recovery plan” announced by Victoria Atkins, the secretary of state for health and social care, on February 7.

The stories I have gathered show that people travelling abroad for dental treatment don’t see themselves as “tourists” or vanity-driven consumers of the “Hollywood smile”. Rather, they have been forced by the crisis in NHS dentistry to seek out a service 1,500 miles away in Turkey that should be a basic, affordable right for all, on their own doorstep.

*Names in this article have been changed to protect the anonymity of the interviewees.


For you: more from our Insights series:

To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. Subscribe to our newsletter.

Diana Ibanez Tirado receives funding from the School of Global Studies, University of Sussex.

Read More

Continue Reading

Trending