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goeasy Ltd. Announces Pricing of Previously Announced Offering of Senior Unsecured Notes and Upsizing to US$200 Million

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MISSISSAUGA, ON, July 22, 2024 /CNW/ – goeasy Ltd. (TSX: GSY) (“goeasy” or the “Company”), one of Canada’s leading consumer lenders focused on delivering a full suite of financial services to Canadians with non-prime credit, is pleased to announce that it priced US$200 million aggregate principal amount of 7.625% senior unsecured notes due 2029 (the “New Notes”), an increase from the previously announced transaction size of US$150 million. The New Notes will be issued at a price of US$1,018.75 per US$1,000 principal amount, plus accrued interest from July 1, 2024. The New Notes have substantially identical terms (other than issuance price, date of issuance and the date from which interest initially accrues) as, and will be treated as a single series with, the Company’s 7.625% unsecured notes due 2029 issued on February 23, 2024 (together with the New Notes, the “Notes”). An aggregate of US$600 million principal amount of Notes will be outstanding after closing of the offering.

Concurrently with the offering, goeasy expects to enter into a currency swap agreement (the “Currency Swap”) to fix the foreign currency exchange rate for the proceeds from the offering, which it expects will reduce the effective cost of borrowing of the New Notes when converted into Canadian currency.

The New Notes will be guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by certain of goeasy’s current and future subsidiaries.

goeasy estimates the net proceeds from the offering will be approximately C$275.8 million, based on the Bank of Canada daily rate on July 19, 2024 for the Canadian dollar/U.S. dollar exchange rate, after deducting fees and estimated offering expenses, and subject to adjustment as a result of the Currency Swap. goeasy intends to use the proceeds from the sale of the New Notes for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of indebtedness.

The offering of the New Notes is expected to close on July 25, 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

The New Notes and related guarantees have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or any state securities laws, and the New Notes may not be offered or sold in the United States or to any U.S. persons unless the New Notes are registered under the Securities Act or pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. This offering will be made only to qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act and outside the United States to non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions in compliance with Rule 903 of Regulation S under the Securities Act. Additionally, in Canada the offering will be made pursuant to exemptions from the prospectus requirements of applicable Canadian securities laws.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About goeasy

goeasy Ltd. is a Canadian company, headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, that provides non-prime leasing and lending services through its easyhome, easyfinancial and LendCare brands. Supported by over 2,500 employees, the Company offers a wide variety of financial products and services including unsecured and secured instalment loans, merchant financing through a variety of verticals and lease-to-own merchandise. Customers can transact seamlessly through an omnichannel model that includes online and mobile platforms, over 400 locations across Canada, and point-of-sale financing offered in the retail, powersports, automotive, home improvement and healthcare verticals, through over 10,000 merchant partners across Canada. Throughout the Company’s history, it has acquired and organically served approximately 1.4 million Canadians and originated over $13.5 billion in loans.

Accredited by the Better Business Bureau, goeasy is the proud recipient of several awards in recognition of its exceptional culture and continued business growth including 2024 Best Workplaces™ in Financial Services & Insurance, Waterstone Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures, ranking on the 2022 Report on Business Women Lead Here executive gender diversity benchmark, placing on the Report on Business ranking of Canada’s Top Growing Companies, ranking on the TSX30, Greater Toronto Top Employers Award and has been certified as a Great Place to Work®. The Company is represented by a diverse group of team members from over 70 nationalities who believe strongly in giving back to communities in which it operates. To date, goeasy has raised and donated over $5.6 million to support its long-standing partnerships with BGC Canada and many other local charities. In 2023, the Company announced a 3-year, $1.4 million commitment to BGC Canada’s Food Fund.

goeasy Ltd.’s. common shares are listed on the TSX under the trading symbol “GSY”. 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements about goeasy, including, but not limited to, its business operations, strategy and expected financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the expectations regarding the completion and the use of proceeds of the Notes offering, the guarantee of the Notes by certain of goeasy’s current and future subsidiaries, and the entry into and effect of the Currency Swap. In certain cases, forward-looking statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and/or can be identified by the use of words such as “expect”, “continue”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “aim”, “plan”, “believe”, “budget”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “foresee”, “target” or negative versions thereof and similar expressions, and/or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and assumptions, including expected growth, results of operations and business prospects and are inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the Company’s operations, economic factors and the industry generally. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made by the Company. Some important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, goeasy’s ability to enter into new lease and/or financing agreements, collect on existing lease and/or financing agreements, open new locations on favourable terms, offer products which appeal to customers at a competitive rate, respond to changes in legislation, react to uncertainties related to regulatory action, raise capital under favourable terms, compete, manage the impact of litigation (including shareholder litigation), control costs at all levels of the organization and maintain and enhance the system of internal controls.

The Company cautions that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. These and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements, and further details and descriptions of these and other factors are disclosed in the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis, including under the section entitled “Risk Factors”. The reader is cautioned to consider these, and other factors carefully and not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter the forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law.

SOURCE goeasy Ltd.

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Nordic brings edge AI to battery-powered Wi-Fi devices, achieving twenty times lower standby power with new nRF71 Series

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Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Thread, and on-device AI on a single chip, with existing software and tools, built for billions of intelligent devices that run for years on a battery

OSLO, Norway, Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Nordic Semiconductor, a global leader in low-power wireless solutions, today announces the nRF71 Series of ultra-low-power Systems-On-Chip (SoCs), bringing together ultra-low-power Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE), Thread®, and edge AI onto a single chip.

Built on the ultra-low-power design, software, and tools that have made Nordic a trusted leader in Bluetooth LE, the nRF71 Series delivers up to 20 times lower standby power usage than current-generation nRF70 Series Wi-Fi products. 

This leap in energy efficiency is expected to unlock new possibilities for developers targeting battery-powered Wi-Fi devices in applications such as smart home, wearables, and industrial IoT.  

“Edge AI will be part of every connected device, but for those that run on a battery, Wi-Fi has demanded a power budget they could not afford,” said Kjetil Holstad, EVP Wi-Fi and Power Management, Nordic Semiconductor. “With the nRF71 Series, Nordic removes that barrier. We are bringing Wi-Fi and edge AI to the same ultra-low-power platform and tools developers already trust for Bluetooth LE, so the next generation of intelligent products can connect to any network, make decisions on the device, and still run for years on a battery.”

Edge AI and the entire application on one chip

AI inference at the edge can now run directly on a single chip, with no external AI processor, so devices respond faster, use less power, and need fewer components. Keyword spotting, anomaly detection, and image classification are practical on battery-powered devices using nRF71 Series, thanks to its integrated Axon Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which runs machine learning models 10x to 17x faster than the 256 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 processor alone. The nRF71 Series can also run ultra-small AI models that developers build from their own data with Nordic’s Neuton software, which is ideal for running edge AI on the processor alone.

From its Axon NPU and Neuton software to over-the-air model updates with nRF Cloud, Nordic is bringing edge AI to battery-powered Wi-Fi devices, with the application, wireless connectivity, and AI all running on a single chip.

Battery-powered Wi-Fi for smart home, security, and industrial IoT 

With nRF71 Series, battery-powered smart home hub, Matter bridge, or Thread border router designs can now run Wi-Fi, Thread, and Bluetooth LE on a single chip, as can Matter-enabled smart locks, security panels, wearables, and industrial sensors. Two independent radios with separate RF and processing blocks make this possible: a Wi-Fi radio and Nordic’s 2.4 GHz multiprotocol radio from the latest generation nRF54 Series wireless SoCs. Both radios receive simultaneously, for devices to maintain their Wi-Fi connection to the cloud while listening for Bluetooth LE or Thread traffic, without either protocol waiting for the other.

The first nRF71 Series SoCs are the nRF7120 and the nRF7120E.  The nRF7120 offers dual-band Wi-Fi 6, while nRF7120E adds tri-band Wi-Fi 6E, and the Axon NPU for hardware-accelerated edge AI. Both parts come with 4 MB of on-chip non-volatile memory and 1 MB of user-accessible RAM. 

On show at Electronica

Nordic will showcase the nRF71 Series, including a Nordic-branded module, at this year’s Electronica, in Hall C6, booth 159.

Availability

The nRF71 Series is now sampling with selected customers.  
Developers can contact their local Nordic sales representative for availability. 

About Nordic Semiconductor

Nordic Semiconductor is a leading low-power wireless IoT company, providing the essential platform and wireless technologies that connect the world’s IoT devices for the consumer, healthcare, and industrial markets. By offering world-class hardware, embedded software, development tools, and cloud lifecycle services, the company simplifies the development and maintenance of secure, reliable, and scalable connected products. www.nordicsemi.com 

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Tencent Cloud Selected for HKMA’s Agentic Finance Expert Group, Showcases WorkBuddy’s New Financial Capabilities at Hong Kong FinTech Week

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HONG KONG, Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology leader Tencent, showcased a range of innovative solutions at Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026, including the international version of WorkBuddy, eKYC, Tencent Cloud Risk Control Solutions, Tencent Marketing Cloud, and its global AI infrastructure network. Among them, the newly launched investment research capabilities on WorkBuddy International Edition emerged as a key focus among financial industry professionals attending the event.

During Hong Kong FinTech Week, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the launch of Project SAGE (Securing Agentic Finance with Governance and Enablement) and established the Agentic Finance Expert Group. Tencent Cloud was selected as a member of the group, bringing its experience in deploying WorkBuddy across financial services to collaborate with the HKMA and industry stakeholders on standards and governance for Agentic Finance, supporting the responsible development and adoption of the technology in Hong Kong.

WorkBuddy International Edition Introduces New Financial Capabilities to Enhance Investment Research Efficiency

Tencent WorkBuddy is a full-scenario AI agent desktop workstation designed for modern workplace scenarios. Its International Edition was launched on May 28 this year. By simply entering a natural language prompt, users can instruct WorkBuddy to autonomously access information, break down tasks, utilize relevant tools, and execute complex workflows, generating ready-to-use deliverables across a wide range of work and learning scenarios.

Designed for financial researchers and consultants, financial content creators, and individual investors, WorkBuddy’s newly launched investment research capabilities help streamline a range of investment research tasks. It supports company research, portfolio assessments based on user-provided information, and stock screening based on specific criteria.

For example, when conducting company research, users can simply instruct WorkBuddy: “Compile data from Tencent Holdings Limited (00700.HK) across its latest 12 reported quarters, provide an in-depth analysis of its revenue, profit margins and growth drivers, and retain the original sources.” WorkBuddy can then help retrieve and consolidate financial reports across multiple quarters, analyze key business metrics, business composition and performance trends based on company disclosures, and generate a preliminary research report while preserving original source references. Users can further refine their analysis through follow-up questions on specific figures, calculation methodologies or the drivers behind business performance, significantly reducing the time spent on manual data collection and information consolidation.

According to the WorkBuddy spokesperson, WorkBuddy is built on human-in-the-loop collaboration. While AI assists with data gathering, data analysis and information synthesis, research judgment and investment decisions remain firmly in the hands of professionals. By streamlining repetitive, time-consuming and cross-platform workflows, WorkBuddy enables users to devote more time and effort to strategic analysis and in-depth research. Looking ahead, WorkBuddy will continue to expand its financial capabilities to improve productivity across a wider range of financial services scenarios.

Tencent Cloud Selected for the Agentic Finance Expert Group to Advance Interoperability Standards

During Hong Kong FinTech Week, the HKMA officially launched Project SAGE and established the Agentic Finance Expert Group. Tencent Cloud was selected to join the group and will focus on contributing to interoperability standards-related initiatives, drawing on WorkBuddy’s experience in financial services to support the responsible development and adoption of Agentic Finance in Hong Kong.

As AI Agent technologies continue to mature, the financial industry’s use of AI is evolving from improving internal operational efficiency to exploring how AI Agents can deliver more efficient and secure financial services. This emerging model, known as Agentic Finance, has the potential to reshape how customers access and use financial products and services. Meanwhile, the associated risks and challenges need to be properly addressed to support its responsible development and adoption, particularly in areas such as agent identity verification, accountability and system security.

According to the HKMA, Project SAGE aims to enable practical applications of Agentic Finance, while ensuring the governance framework is in place. This initiative focuses on four key areas: Market Development and Use Case Exploration, Agent Identity, Interoperability Standards, and Legal and Regulatory Frameworks. Through its participation in the interoperability standards initiatives, Tencent Cloud will support the exploration of how AI Agents across different institutions and platforms can securely identify one another, accurately communicate instructions, and safely exchange data, laying the foundation for the large-scale adoption of Agentic Finance.

Liming Hu, Vice President of Tencent Cloud, said: “Common standards and protocols can help reduce duplicate integration efforts and mitigate risks associated with interactions between systems, providing a critical foundation for the large-scale adoption of Agentic Finance. We look forward to bringing WorkBuddy’s practical experience in financial services into industry discussions and contributing to the development of Hong Kong’s Agentic Finance ecosystem and related standards.”

Tencent Cloud has extensive experience serving the financial industry, and supports more than 10,000 financial institution customers worldwide. Its AI Agent tool, WorkBuddy, is already widely used across banking, insurance, securities, and asset management scenarios, and has accumulated extensive practical experience in AI Agent collaboration and cross-platform interoperability.

About Tencent Cloud

Tencent Cloud, one of the world’s leading cloud companies, is committed to creating innovative solutions to resolve real-world issues and enabling digital transformation for smart industries. Through our extensive global infrastructure, Tencent Cloud provides businesses across the globe with stable and secure industry-leading cloud products and services, leveraging technological advancements such as cloud computing, Big Data analytics, AI, IoT, and network security. It is our constant mission to meet the needs of industries across the board, including the fields of gaming, media and entertainment, finance, healthcare, property, retail, travel, and transportation.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/tencent-cloud-selected-for-hkmas-agentic-finance-expert-group-showcases-workbuddys-new-financial-capabilities-at-hong-kong-fintech-week-302927523.html

SOURCE Tencent Cloud

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Wincomm and Portwell to Showcase Next-Gen Medical AI Computing at MEDICA 2026

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A Broader Computing Portfolio from Mobile care, Medical AI and Operating Room

HSINCHU, Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Wincomm, a Portwell company, will join Portwell Taiwan and Portwell Europe at MEDICA 2026 to present a shared direction for medical AI computing. Taking place November 16–19 in Düsseldorf, Germany, the joint showcase at Hall 12, Stand C76 will connect embedded computing, medical All-in-One (AIO) PCs, and portable devices across a wider range of healthcare applications.

With participation from Portwell Taiwan and Portwell Europe, the showcase brings together product engineering expertise and regional support to help medical equipment manufacturers and system integrators explore suitable computing architectures for their applications.

The joint presentation reflects a broader development in healthcare technology: demand for more diverse computing platforms tailored to different workloads, power requirements, installation constraints, and system integration needs. By presenting their complementary portfolios together, Wincomm and Portwell offer visitors a more comprehensive view of the platforms available for developing connected medical equipment and deploying intelligence at the clinical edge.

A Shared Medical AI Direction: Application-Specific Platforms Across the Care Environment

Together, Wincomm and the Portwell group will present a medical AI development direction centered on application-specific computing: combining mobility, graphics acceleration, clinical integration, and serviceability according to the needs of each care setting.

The demonstration portfolio spans the following application areas:

Application area

Featured models

Development focus

Mobile medical
cart computing

WMP-22U/24U

Energy-efficient Intel® Core™ Ultra computing
and optional triple hot-swappable batteries for
continuous mobile workflows

GPU-accelerated
medical AI

WMP-22S/24S and
MEDS-P2210

Computing platforms for demanding medical
imaging and AI workloads, including AIO
configurations with discrete GPU options

Medical box
computing

MEDS-7081, 7082, 5210,
and DTEC-D012

Embedded computing options for medical
equipment integration and application-specific
deployment

Operating room
computing

WMP-22T/24T/27T-PIS

AIO platforms designed for operating room
integration and surgical information workflows

Point-of-care
computing

WMP-109, MEDS-
P1003, and WMP-
22P/24P-IP54

Clinical information access and interaction at the
point of care

Portable medical
computing

WMT-101

Handheld information access, barcode scanning,
and NFC-enabled data capture

Medical device manufacturers, system integrators, and healthcare technology partners are invited to explore the demonstration portfolio and discuss future medical AI development opportunities.

Exhibition: MEDICA 2026
Dates: November 16–19, 2026
Location: Düsseldorf, Germany
Wincomm Portwell Joint booth: Hall 12, Stand C76
TW Excellence booth: Hall 16, Stand B23

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/wincomm-and-portwell-to-showcase-next-gen-medical-ai-computing-at-medica-2026-302927355.html

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