Changes in Debitum ownership structure

General information

Hereby we inform you that as of 07.07.2023.  the controlling ownership structure of SIA DN Operator – the legal name of the P2P platform Debitum – has changed.

Existing CEO Henrijs Jansons and businessman Ingus Salmiņš have been approved as owners of the Debitum platform by the platform’s supervisory authority – Bank of Latvia.

It is planned that the new owners will soon be joined by a third member – Ēriks Reņģītis, whose participation is being coordinated with the Bank of Latvia.

At the same time, Mārtiņš Liberts has stepped down from the board and is no longer involved or responsible in any operational decision-making.

After the completion of the full takeover, we will inform you more in detail about the deal and the company’s enormous future plans but for now, all platform daily operations will remain at the same level and speed, with no changes in staff, customer service quality or any other operational matter is expected.

New beneficial owners

Henrijs Jansons – the existing CEO of Debitum. With 10 years of experience in the financial and fintech industry. Worked both on the platform and on the other stages of the non-bank lending ecosystem. Studied at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and RISEBAA.

Ingus Salmiņš – Experienced manager and business person with 10 years of experience in the banking sector. Ingus has also held managerial positions related to the supervision of the company’s finances and operations in Altum Energo (ALTUM is a state-owned development finance institution), Latvijas Pasts and more. Studied at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (EMBA degree).

Ēriks Reņģītis – Corporate finance advisor with 12+ years of experience, skilled in finance, capital raising, and M&A. With a background in accounting, finance, investor relations, and corporate strategy. Currently holds a Partner position in Auctus Capital LTC. Holds an MBA degree from Riga Technical University.

Current achievements

“Looking back on these 5 years, I am thrilled with the remarkable progress Debitum has made! The support and positive feedback from investors, partners, and finance industry leaders have been truly inspiring. Though we didn’t accomplish everything initially planned, especially didn’t find a market fit for innovations around digital tokens, a decentralized ecosystem of international partners, and some more complicated financial products, Debitum managed to reach significant milestones that I’m proud of. Debitum proudly stands as the second P2P-like platform to be licensed in Europe and trailblazed to be the first platform by offering investments in financial instruments, asset-backed securities. Our remarkable 0% default rate remains unwavering.

As we move forward, I’ve decided to channel my focus into following my core passion – loan origination and B2B lending services across Europe. Hence, I’ve made the logical choice to concentrate on the lending companies I’ve been involved with by enhancing their technology platforms and providing top-notch services to valued customers. Simultaneously, I trust that the new owners of Debitum will wholeheartedly dedicate their efforts to take the platform to new heights,” reflects Mārtiņš Liberts, the co-founder and former owner of Debitum.

Future plans

In the first 5 years, the platform has reached a certain maturity. New ideas, energy, and resources are necessary for further development, so a change of owners is also natural.

“We see that the P2P industry will continue its growth, playing a certain role in the global investment world. Our focus will remain on the SMEs in Europe. We plan to develop this direction, offering investors both a wider variety of investment opportunities, as well as significantly improving the functionality of the platform and further improving investor protection mechanisms.

It is clear that in every healthy balanced P2P investment portfolio, apart from consumer loans there has to be also investments in business loans. Therefore, Debitum plans to strengthen its position – being the No1 P2P platform for investments in business loans in Europe,” says Debitum CEO Henrijs Jansons.

In addition to P2P investments, the new owners plan to offer other types of financial services under the Debitum brand. The services will be designed to support the growth of SME companies. It is too early to announce specific services and their implementation deadlines, but one of the directions will be related to the issuance of bonds on the NASDAQ alternative stock exchange First North.

That’s why competencies to the effective management and development of P2P and other financial instruments are strengthened both at the level of the owners and the team.

Important!

It is important to stress that the acquisition transaction includes only the change of ownership of SIA DN Operator.

The other companies, business directions, projects, and initiatives of the ex-owners, that are not related to the operation of DN Operator and the Debitum platform, remain unchanged under their management.

Limited liability company DN Operator has no legal liabilities with the assets called DEB token as this company was registered in 09.04.2019 in the commercial register of Republic of Latvia. Brand name Debitum has been registered in the Patent Office Republic of Latvia on 20.02.2023 (Reg. no. M 78 380) thus the company could not participate in the initial coin offering (ICO) in 2018 and accordingly DEB tokens have not been issued by DN Operator nor have been registered in DN Operator balance sheet as liabilities.

Until the recent past, DEB tokens were as well available to investors on the Debitum platform, as the platform was one of the means that token holders could utilize them. Taking into account the change of owners of Debitum, this option has been deactivated on the platform. Also, the platform’s supervisory authority – Bank of Latvia – has noted that services/products that are not legally connected to the Debitum platform or underlying business shall not be represented on the platform and must be taken down immediately. Therefore, any questions related to DEB tokens shall be addressed to the representatives and/or owners of the company from which you acquired them as a result of the ICO.

For all other questions related to platform operations and changes in ownership structure, we encourage you to ask via all possible means of communication with us or write an email directly to CEO Henrijs Jansons – [email protected] .

Let’s continue to grow together!