TAAL Announces the Opening of New Office in Zug, Switzerland, Along With Operations Update
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 10, 2020 /CNW/ - TAAL Distributed Information Technologies Inc. (CSE: TAAL) (FWB: 9SQ1) (OTC: TAALF) ("TAAL" or the "Company") a vertically integrated, blockchain infrastructure and service provider, today announced the opening of its new office in Zug, Switzerland, along with key hires in c-suite and senior management roles and also provided an update on its ongoing operations.
Swiss Office
Switzerland is known for its legislation upon which a globally-recognized banking and finance industry has developed, and the city of Zug, which has a well-earned reputation as one of the fastest growing technology hubs in Europe, has recently seen a proliferation of fintech, blockchain and distributed ledger technology companies. Zug was the first state authority in the world to accept blockchain as an official means of payment in 2016 and higher education and post-doctoral level research on blockchain is offered at many nearby universities, contributing to a concentration of world-class talent.
In connection with the opening of the Zug office, TAAL is onboarding a number of key new hires with the goal of expanding the Company's operations, including a Chief Technology Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, VP of Product Development, Head of Business Development, Chief Scientist and VP of Digital Strategy. Chief Executive Officer Jerry Chan and Chief Financial Officer Satoshi Kitahama will be relocating to the Swiss office in 2021.
"The opening of our Zug office represents a strategic move to expand TAAL's operations in Switzerland, a region that offers enormous potential for the growth and development of blockchain businesses," said Jerry Chan, CEO of TAAL. "Our new hires will allow us to further strengthen our business capabilities in this region, and execute on our strategic vision globally."
TAAL expects to hire additional people at the Zug office and for the office to be completely staffed and fully operational by the end of Q1 2021. The Swiss office will focus on intellectual property development and support of global operations.
Operations Update
Sale of Assets
On September 8, 2020 the Company entered into an agreement to sell 37,500 non-operational hashing servers (the "Assets") to an arms' length buyer for total proceeds of US$825,000 (the "Asset Sale"). The purchase price will be paid in eight equal installments over eight weeks and the purchaser will proportionally take possession of the equipment from TAAL's U.S. warehouses upon each payment.
As previously announced, TAAL had acquired over 50,000 of the Assets on March 9, 2020 for a purchase price of approximately US$4 million pursuant to an asset purchase agreement with, among others, Tansley Equipment Limited ("Tansley"), which is beneficially owned by Mr. Calvin Ayre, TAAL's controlling shareholder.
The Assets were originally acquired by TAAL with the intention of upgrading and optimizing them for deployment in the Company's blockchain transaction processing operations; however, the Company has subsequently determined to sell the Assets and to use the proceeds from the Asset Sale, and any further sales of the Assets, towards the purchase of new state-of-the-art blockchain hashing servers for its North American hashing initiatives.
Settlement of Arbitration
Further to the Company's press releases on the March 31, 2020, June 12, 2020, and July 6, 2020, regarding the dispute between the sellers of the Assets and their former hosting provider (the "Hosting Provider"), the Company is announcing today that Tansley, the other entities party to the arbitration, the Hosting Provider and the Company entered into a settlement agreement (the "Settlement Agreement") to fully and finally settle and release each other from all claims related to the dispute.
TAAL is not expected to make any payments under the Settlement Agreement and Calvin Ayre has agreed to personally indemnify the Company from any liabilities arising thereunder.
The Settlement Agreement provides that Tansley will pay the Hosting Provider an undisclosed amount over a period of one year. While TAAL had been removed from the arbitration proceedings, the Company is a party to the Settlement Agreement because it managed Tansley's operations during the applicable period and had certain claims against the Hosting Provider on behalf of Tansley which it has released in connection with the settlement.
About TAAL Distributed Information Technologies Inc.
TAAL Distributed Information Technologies Inc. delivers value-added blockchain services, providing professional-grade, highly scalable blockchain infrastructure and transactional platforms to support businesses building solutions and applications upon the Bitcoin SV platform, and developing, operating, and managing distributed computing systems for enterprise users.
The CSE, nor its Regulation Services Provider, accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Certain statements included in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "will", "intends", "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information, although not all forward-looking information will contain these identifying words. Specific forward-looking information contained in this news release includes, but is not limited to statements regarding: the expansion and staffing of TAAL's office in Zug, Switzerland, the expected use of the proceeds from the sale of the Cloud Computing Assets, and expectations relating to payments under the Settlement Agreement. These statements are based on factors and assumptions related to historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Since forward-looking information relates to future events and conditions, by its very nature it requires making assumptions and involves inherent risks and uncertainties. TAAL cautions that although it is believed that the assumptions are reasonable in the circumstances, these risks and uncertainties give rise to the possibility that actual results may differ materially from expectations. Material risk factors include the future acceptance of Bitcoin SV and other digital assets and risks related to information processing using those platforms, the ability for TAAL to leverage intellectual property into viable income streams and other risks set out in Item 20 Risk Factors of TAAL's Form 2A – Listing Statement dated July 31, 2018 and elsewhere in TAAL's continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Given these risks, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information contained herein. Other than as required by law, TAAL undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking information to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise.
SOURCE Taal Distributed Information Technologies Inc.
Matt Whitcomb, Investor Relations, Telephone: +1 800-371-2809 or Jerry Chan, CEO, [email protected]
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