Axis Auto Finance Inc. (Formerly Verdant Financial Partners I Inc.) Announces Closing of Its Qualifying Transaction, Share Consolidation, and Name Change

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 25, 2016) - Verdant Financial Partners I Inc. ("Verdant" or the "Company") (NEX:VFI.H) and 8095981 Canada Inc., operating as Axis Auto Finance ("Axis"), are pleased to announce the closing of their previously announced Qualifying Transaction today (as such term is defined in Policy 2.4 of the Corporate Finance Manual of the TSX Venture Exchange) (the "Exchange") involving the exchange of all of the issued and outstanding securities of Axis for securities of Verdant. Pursuant to the Qualifying Transaction, the Company issued 49,738,938 common shares (including common shares issuable in exchange for securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement, as defined below), 4,322,103 warrants, 4,269,500 stock options, and 545,123 compensation options. The Company also consolidated its common shares on the basis of 1 new common share for every 6 previously issued and outstanding and changed its name to "Axis Auto Finance Inc."

Keith Harris and Alexander Rowlands have resigned as directors and officers of the Company. The Company's board of directors is now comprised of the following individuals: Ilja Troitschanski, Robert Howe, David Mitchell, Josh Arbuckle, Bruce Smith, Fraser Clarke, and Jordan Zinberg. In addition, the board has appointed Ilja Troitschanski as President and Chief Executive Officer, Robert Howe as Chief Financial Officer, and Josh Arbuckle as Corporate Secretary.

Prior to closing of the Qualifying Transaction, Axis completed the private placement (the "Private Placement") previously announced on April 28, 2016, with Dundee Securities Ltd. (the acting as lead agent on behalf of a syndicate including Canaccord Genuity Corp. The Company issued 9,085,382 common shares in exchange for securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement on April 28, 2016.

Proceeds from the Private Placement will be used as set out in the Filing Statement of the Company dated July 21, 2016 and found on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

The Company previously received conditional approval from the Exchange for the Qualifying Transaction and the listing of the shares of the Resulting Issuer (as such term is defined in Policy 2.4 of the Exchange) for trading on the Exchange, subject to satisfaction of certain customary conditions. The Company anticipates receiving its Final Exchange Bulletin from the Exchange in respect of the closing of the Qualifying Transaction within the next ten days, following which its common shares will resume trading under the symbol "AXS" on the Exchange, and it will no longer be considered a Capital Pool Company. On closing of the Qualifying Transaction the Company had a total of 50,328,050 common shares issued and outstanding.