March is here and we’re only a few short weeks away from the long-awaited start of conversion of CNG to Change Group shares or share units.
Soon the Change community will have an exciting opportunity to become a major part of the company. It’s our goal to make this journey as effortless as possible, while ensuring that all investors are treated fairly and are offered flexibility to manage their stake the way they prefer.
In this article, you’ll discover all you need to know about the CNG conversion and what the different options are for you - a Change investor.
Please pardon our jargon, but before we continue you must know:
Important disclaimer - the contents of this message (delivered in form of an e-mail and as published on changeinvest.com), or any part hereof, is not to be construed as an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase of any securities issued and/or owned by Change, nor shall the sale or offer of any securities issued and/or owned by Change take place in any jurisdiction where such offer, invitation or sale would be unlawful without the exception or qualification of law, prior to the registration of prospectus or other applicable disclosure document of equivalent effect.
The initial planning for conversion was to remove CNG altogether, allowing trading with one instrument in one single order book. As mentioned in the previous update, this move would have slowed down our growth opportunities and fundraising plans in the long run.
Change investors guided us to understand some helpful facts:
- Most of our investors prefer to continue trading with CNG in the Change app until there’s a bigger liquidity event, like listing on a public exchange;
- Some investors would like to keep all their investments in companies on their personal securities account as long-term investments;
- Some investors would like to keep all their startup investments on the Funderbeam platform, where they can easily manage their whole portfolio in one place.
Thanks to multiple talks with various groups of Change investors, the best option for everyone eventually came into play.
All CNG holders will be able to convert their CNG to Change share units traded on the Funderbeam platform or to Change share to be held directly on the personal securities account of the investor, while those investors who want to continue using their CNG as before will equally be able to do so from early April 2022.
How can I convert?
Look forward to updates to the current version of the Terms and Conditions of CNG Tokens to reflect the added feature of optional conversion from CNG to Change share or share units on a rolling basis. This means that all CNG holders can convert their tokens at any time and ask for a delivery of the share to their securities account or share units to Funderbeam or, in the future, any exchange where Change Group share units are listed.
Additionally, all token holders, both those converting as well as those keeping their CNG, will be eligible for dividend payouts if a distribution of profit was voted among shareholders.
If you wish to continue trading with CNG in the Change app you don’t need to do anything else at this moment. The acknowledgment that was given by investors in the Change app already, regarding the conversion, is treated as an input to our decision to add optional conversion on a rolling basis.
Anyone who wants to manage their stake in Change outside of the Change app can start doing so by following the respective steps to be introduced in the upcoming Change app version. These will become available from the start of April 2022.
If you choose to convert your CNG tokens it effectively means that you request us to transfer this stake out from the Change app and to your securities account. If you don’t have a securities account yet, please take a look at the list of eligible financial institutions where a securities account can be opened.
Another option is to request to transfer the stake resulting in the conversion of your CNG tokens to the Funderbeam platform. There we have 1% of Change equity already being traded.
What option is most suitable for you?
Here’s a quick summary of the different options available for you.
* Voting will be via Funderbeam as nominee according to applicable terms and procedures.
**Must be a fully verified Change user.
***See who can use Funderbeam platform.
****Nasaq CSD account required. See list of financial institutions.
Option 1: Keep your CNG
The Terms and Conditions will update and you’ll be able to continue trading CNG in the Change app.
This option is likely suitable for you if you don’t have a securities account and you would like to continue using the Change app to manage your holdings. You are free to choose option 2 or 3 anytime in the future as well.
Option 2: Convert CNG to Change share units and transfer to Funderbeam
You can do this anytime and have them transferred to your Funderbeam account where the instrument is already trading.
This option is likely suitable for you if you’re already familiar with the Funderbeam marketplace and you keep your other startup investments on that platform as well. You can take advantage of trading share units directly against EUR and participate in shareholders’ votes via Funderbeam according to applicable terms and procedures.
Option 3: Convert CNG to Change share units and transfer to securities account
This option is likely suitable for you if you plan to keep the Change Group share for a longer period of time and don’t plan to trade with it on a daily basis. You will be a direct owner of the share and have full control over it. In some cases, the share you keep with your securities account can be used as collateral to take out loans and you will be able to directly take part in the shareholders' votes.
Please note: Once you have converted your CNG and sent to your securities account or Funderbeam account it will not be possible to convert it back to CNG and transfer it back to the Change app at this time.
Future of CNG and share units
A continual stride towards a seamless trading solution with Change equity for all investors is the mission. Current participants can enjoy a flexible setup that takes into account the wishes of all investors.
Look forward to new possibilities in the near future that bring community voting to the app and have CNG trading against EUR to make the trading experience similar between all exchanges where Change equity is, and will be, listed.
Change group share units on the Funderbeam market will continue to trade with the addition of a share (expected additional up to ~1%) from non-EEA investors who may be onboarded after the conversion.
To sum it up
You’ll soon see updated Terms and Conditions of CNG Tokens that give all holders the flexibility to convert their position to Change Group shares or share units at any time they want.
Both CNG and the trading experience will remain in the Change app as it has been so far.
Investors who want to convert their position to a share or share units can do so by following the steps in the app which will be available from the start of April 2022.
Investors who would like to continue trading with their CNG tokens don’t need to do anything else at this time, even if you had already previously stated your acknowledgment of conversion.
