FORT WORTH, Texas, Dec. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: FCFS) today announced that it has closed its previously announced acquisition of American First Finance. completion of the acquisition establishes FirstCash’s entry into the large and growing lease to own and point-of-sale payment space.
“This is an exciting day as we welcome AFF to the FirstCash team,” said Rick Wessel, FirstCash’s chief executive officer. “Together, we are well positioned to drive further expansion and growth in both pawn and the complementary retail point-of-sale payment space and further diversify our revenue opportunities, while serving our customers with a wider set of innovative capabilities.”
In connection with the completion of the transaction, effective December 16, 2021, the Company completed its previously announced holding company reorganization creating a newly-formed public company named FirstCash Holdings, Inc, which replaced FirstCash, Inc. as the public company trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “FCFS”. Each outstanding share of FirstCash, Inc. has been converted into an equivalent corresponding share of common stock in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. having the same designations, rights, powers and preferences and the qualifications, limitations and restrictions as the corresponding FirstCash, Inc. shares that were converted. FirstCash, Inc. now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. This holding company reorganization is intended to be a tax-free transaction for federal income tax purposes for the Company’s shareholders.
As previously announced, Doug Rippel, former Chairman and Founder of American First Finance, has joined the FirstCash Board of Directors following the closing of the transaction.
About FirstCash
FirstCash is a leading international operator of pawn stores and a leading provider of technology-driven point-of-sale payment solutions, both focused on serving cash and credit constrained consumers. FirstCash’s more than 2,800 pawn stores buy and sell a wide variety of jewelry, electronics, tools, appliances, sporting goods, musical instruments and other merchandise and make small consumer pawn loans secured by pledged personal property.
American First Finance, a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstCash, provides a nationwide network of more than 6,500 active merchant partner locations that provide consumer goods and services to their shoppers and offer AFF’s retail finance solutions to facilitate payments on such transactions. As one of the largest omni-channel providers of “no credit required” payment options, AFF’s technology provides its merchant partners with seamless leasing and financing experiences in-store, online, in-cart and on mobile devices.
FirstCash is a component company in both the Standard & Poor’s MidCap 400 Index® and the Russell 2000 Index®. FirstCash’s common stock (ticker symbol “FCFS”) is traded on the Nasdaq, the creator of the world’s first electronic stock market.
