MIAMI, Dec. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TELLZA Inc. (“TELLZA” or the “Company”) (TSX:TEL) announced today that, further to articles of amendment approved at its 2017 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders, the Company has changed its name from Tellza Communications Inc. to Tellza Inc. The Company believes that deleting the reference to “Communications” from its corporate name better represents its strategic shift in business direction. TELLZA will retain its trading symbol (TEL), and will commence trading under its new CUSIP number (87975A105) effective December 13, 2017.
In 2016, TELLZA expanded beyond Communications and Technology by investing in two companies which operate in the Financial Support Services market:
- In April 2016, TELLZA invested US$5.5 Million to acquire a 33% stake in Rightway Funding (http://rightwayfunding.com/) together with a financial derivative that is expected to see TELLZA’s ownership expand to 43% by 2019. Rightway Funding is a US based structured settlement company.
- In April 2016, TELLZA invested US$0.7 Million to acquire a 9.9% in Merkez Faktoring AS (http://en.merkezfaktoring.com.tr/), a Turkish-based brokerage that factors commercial receivables. TELLZA also advanced US$0.7 Million to a significant shareholder of Merkez, to be settled for additional ownership in Merkez or for cash at TELLZA’s discretion, subject to regulatory approval.
TELLZA TECH (http://www.tellzatechnologies.com/) platforms process in excess of US$1 Billion of high volume, real time, low margin transactions, including tracking, analysis and billings, with a high degree of accuracy using off-the-shelf third party equipment, replacing traditional Telecommunications infrastructure at a fraction of the historical costs for affiliate and non-affiliate Carriers around the World. TELLZA TECH’s team of software programmers and hardware specialists have worked together for over 15 years developing and providing Big Data Real Time Solutions. TELLZA TECH is examining opportunities beyond Communications, where we can bring effective solutions to industry challenges.
Rightway Funding (http://rightwayfunding.com/) is a leader in US structured settlements. This business services customers wishing to convert their annuity payments from insurance claims and lottery winnings into a single fixed payment for customers throughout the United States. In 2016, TELLZA received distributions of US$0.5 Million and in 2017 it received distributions of US$0.9 Million. TELLZA has applied these distributions towards the repayment of US$1.3 Million of the US$3.5 Million in non-recourse debt related to this investment.
TELLZA - Global Wholesale Voice Services is a leader in its markets, operating through the Phonetime and Matchcom brands. In this consolidating commodity-based business, we continue to seek opportunities to carve out market synergies, product innovation and consolidation of operating costs in order to maximize profits within acceptable credit risk parameters. These business units historically generate annual profits of about US$2.5 Million.
Corporate - TELLZA currently has approximately 10.1 Million common shares outstanding. Since 2011, the Company has acquired and cancelled 3.4 Million shares, including 0.5 Million shares in 2017 providing, effectively, a tax-free dividend to shareholders. Management and Directors own approximately 30% of the outstanding stock, and there are no stock options or other dilutive instruments outstanding. Two Family Trusts own, in the aggregate, approximately 47% of the Company’s outstanding shares and the remaining 23% is held broadly by retail investors.
TELLZA also owns 17 Million shares of Next Group Holdings, Inc. (OTC:NXGH) which are classified in its financial statements as Marketable Securities.
The Company’s financial statements and other disclosures are available on SEDAR.
About TELLZA
TELLZA is a Technology and Financial Support Services company. TELLZA is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TEL).
Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information:
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words like "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "indicates" or similar expressions. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties. TELLZA’s actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors set forth in reports and other documents filed by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities from time to time. See www.sedar.com which contains all securities files.
Contact:
Michael Vazquez, Tellza Inc., CEO
Phone: +954-624-8143
Email: mike@tellza.com