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Recapitalisation: Sterling HoldCo Bolsters Capital Raising with Full Regulatory Approval

ANTHONY KLAN EXCLUSIVE Guide Dogs Victoria was devastated by the Josh Frydenberg political advertisements scandal, with donors leaving for good, and no part of the organisation left unharmed, says its chief executive. More than two-and-a-half years after the charity was thrust into the biggest scandal of its 65-year history, Guide Dogs Victoria has finally lifted its silence over the affair. The impact of the Frydenberg affair was “huge” and far-reaching, Guide Dogs Victoria chief executive Nicky Long has told The Klaxon, in an exclusive and wide-ranging interview. “The impact on the organisation has been huge,” Long said. “I don’t think there’s anyone internally or even at a volunteer level that didn’t feel the ripple effects of what occurred”. “I don’t think there’s anyone internally or even at a volunteer level that didn’t feel the ripple effects of what occurred” — Nicky Long Weeks before the 2022 federal election, it emerged Guide Dogs Victoria’s then chief executive Karen Hayes had appeared in political advertisements spruiking Frydenberg, then the Federal Treasurer. It is illegal for charities to endorse politicians or political parties. Hayes was “stood down” within days of the scandal breaking and Iain Edwards was replaced as Guide Dogs Victoria chair. Yet despite the seriousness of the affair — and widespread public concerns — aside from a handful of carefully-worded written statements, Guide Dogs Victoria has refused to comment on the scandal or its aftermath. Now, Long — who took the reins in April last year — is breaking that silence, shedding light on the impact of the scandal that engulfed one of Australia’s most trusted charities. “We had donors who said ‘we’re out of here and we’re never coming back’,” Long told The Klaxon. “That was pretty harmful. “Our fundraising was absolutely impacted,” she said. “We had donors who said ‘we’re out of here and we’re never coming back’” — Nicky Long As to whether the damage from the affair remained ongoing, Long was unsure. “How long is that tail? I hope it isn’t (long),” she said. “We also have a lot of really loyal people who recognise it was a critical bump in the road, and on the other side of it they’re sticking around”. The full financial impact of the scandal — much of Guide Dogs Victoria’s revenue comes from donations — was also hard to determine. Long said donations had not seen a “dip” but had “stabilised”, or stopped growing. “When you’re investing in fundraising you want growth — I’d say we’ve held,” she said. Long is now hopeful that the dust has settled. “When I started I put a line in the sand, with staff, with everyone, and said we are entering a new era,” she said. “Not to say the bruises of the recent past aren’t there, but we can’t keep looking back, we have to look forward. “And so it’s been quite a task to get everyone back up feeling positive about the future of Guide Dogs and I think...we are there,” Long said. “It’s been quite a task to get everyone back up feeling positive about the future of Guide Dogs” — Nicky Long Guide Dogs Victoria is located in the inner-Melbourne federal seat of Kooyong, which had been held by the Liberal Party since the party was founded. At the May 2022 election Frydenberg lost the seat to independent Monique Ryan. Weeks out from the election, in flyers distributed in Kooyong, and in advertisements posted online and to social media, Hayes was featured, holding a puppy, as “Chief Executive Officer, Guide Dogs Victoria”. “I’ve known Josh for over a decade and I could not have asked for a better local Federal Member for Kooyong than Josh Frydenberg,” Hayes is quoted. “He (Frydenberg) has always maintained his strong and unwavering commitment to his local Kooyong community for whom he has delivered in so many ways. “In our darkest moments Josh was there providing support.” The scandal drew the spotlight on the charity, and revealed it had been heavily utlilised by the Liberal Party for campaigning for at least a decade. It also put the focus on the charity’s operations more broadly. Weeks after the election, in June 2022 The Klaxon revealed taxpayers Guide Dogs Victoria revealed Guide Dogs Victoria was charging taxpayers four times more than a decade earlier but delivering fewer services — and that it spent more money on fundraising than delivering guide dogs . Later that month we revealed Guide Dogs Victoria’s then “capital fundraising” boss made over $87,000 in donations to the Federal Liberal Party, before the Federal Coalition gave millions of dollars of taxpayer funds to Guide Dogs Victoria. In November 2022, with Guide Dogs Victoria apparently in damage control, we revealed at least one of its executives had been lying to donors about its performance , including making false claims about The Klaxon’s reporting. (The following month we revealed a string of executives had departed , including the charity’s general manager responsible for marketing and communications and its chief financial officer). The Klaxon also revealed the charity had missed every guide dogs target since 2016 ; that in the 2021 financial year it had delivered just 35 dogs ; and that in 2021-22 it delivered the lowest number of dogs on record . In January last year we revealed the Guide Dogs Victoria’s senior management and board had been warned of “politicisation” involving the Liberal Party back in 2013 . The following day it was announced Edwards was leaving the organisation and that Long had been appointed — but would start in around three months’ time, in “mid-April”. The board was “pleased to confirm” it had appointed Long, then CEO of not-for-profit Expression Australia, “following the announcement of her resignation this afternoon”, it said in its January 13 statement . “Nicky will join GDV in mid-April once she has served her notice period [at Expression Australia],” it said. Long started at Guide Dogs Victoria on April 17. After the scandal broke, it was announced Edwards would stand down as chair and fill the position of “interim CEO” until a new CEO was found. On January 13 it was announced Edwards would depart Guide Dogs Victoria altoghter. More reports from The Klaxon: 2022: May 31 — Guide Dogs CEO “resigns”: major questions remain June 23 — Spends more on fundraising than dogs June 27 — Fundraising boss gave $87,000 to Liberal Party Nov 20 — Guide Dogs Victoria caught lying to donors Dec 5 — Guide Dogs executives exit Dec 16 — Supplies lowest value of dogs on record 2023: Jan 12 — Guide Dogs Victoria board warned of “politicisation” a decade ago Apr 7 – Top dog departs after Klaxon expose That month, and again in May, The Klaxon requested an interview with Long. We received no response. A week ago, The Klaxon approached Guide Dogs Victoria with concerns regarding its performance, from its last two annual reports, and again requested an interview with Long. This time the request was successful. “I don’t know that we handled dealing with you in the past very well,” Long said this week. “My approach is always to meet with people and talk with them”. When asked whether Guide Dogs Victoria had changed its stance regarding political endorsements or affiliations, Long was unequivocal: “Absolutely — you can’t do it”. Long said she was confident improvements had been made, including “board changes”. “I wouldn’t be the CEO here if I thought there was an ongoing issue, if things were in place that could see that ever happen again,” she said. More to come...

Nwobi Political Dynasty strengthens ties with Enugu State GovernmentSportscaster Greg Gumbel dies from cancer at age 78

Library Lines: Contra Costa system will soon launch Self-Service SundaysVancouver, BC, Dec. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FOBI AI Inc. (FOBI:TSXV) (FOBIF:OTCQB) (" Fobi ” or the " Company ”) announces that it has applied to its principal regulator, the British Columbia Securities Commission (" BCSC ”), for a partial revocation order (the " Partial Revocation Order ”) of the ongoing failure-to-file cease trade order (" FFCTO ”) ordered by the BCSC on November 1, 2024, in order to complete a non-brokered private placement offering (the " Proposed Offering ”) of 56,114,400 units of the Company (the " Units ”) to a single subscriber (the " Subscriber ”) at a price per Unit of US$0.04 for aggregate gross proceeds of US$2,244,576 on a prospectus exempt basis. Each Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company (a " Unit Share ”) and one common share purchase warrant (a " Unit Warrant ”), each of which is exercisable for the purchase of one additional common share in the capital of the Company at a price of US$0.06 per share for a period of two years from the date of the closing of the Proposed Offering. The proceeds from the Proposed Offering will be used to file the outstanding continuous disclosure documents of the Company, cover essential expenses, and subsequently apply for a full revocation of the FFCTO within a reasonable time, among other things. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Proposed Offering as described in the table below. 1.Includes certain amounts payable in U.S. dollars converted to CAD using Bank of Canada exchange rate of 1 USD to 1.4386 CAD on December 24, 2024. 2.US$100,000 converted to CAD using Bank of Canada exchange rate of 1 USD to 1.4386 CAD on December 24, 2024. 3.Based on proceeds of US$2,244,576 using Bank of Canada exchange rate of 1 USD to 1.4386 CAD on December 24, 2024. On closing of the Proposed Offering, the Subscriber is anticipated to hold 19.99% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company. The applicable disclosure required under National Instrument 62-103 - The Early Warning System and Related Take Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues will be included in the press release of the Company announcing the closing of the Proposed Offering. The exercise by the Subscriber of Unit Warrants will be prohibited if such exercise would result in the Subscriber holding 20.0% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the Company. Completion of the Proposed Offering remains conditional on the grant of the Partial Revocation Order by the BCSC, approval of the Proposed Offering by the TSX Venture Exchange (" TSXV ”), and the execution of a subscription agreement, among other things. The Company anticipates filing (i) audited annual financial statements, management's discussion and analysis, and related certifications for the year ended June 30, 2024 (" Annual Filings ”), within 45 days of the closing of the Proposed Offering and (ii) interim financial statements, management's discussion and analysis, and related certifications for the three months ended September 30, 2024, including certifications thereto (" Interim Filings ”), within 15 days of the filing of the Annual Filings, at which time the Company intends to apply for a full revocation of the FFCTO. About Fobi Founded in 2017 in Vancouver, Canada, Fobi is a leading AI and data intelligence company that provides businesses with real-time applications to digitally transform and future-proof their organizations. Fobi enables businesses to action, leverage, and monetize their customer data by powering personalized and data-driven customer experiences, and drives digital sustainability by eliminating the need for paper and reducing unnecessary plastic waste at scale. Fobi works with some of the largest global organizations across retail & CPG, insurance, sports & entertainment, casino gaming, and more. Fobi is a recognized technology and data intelligence leader across North America and Europe, and is the largest data aggregator in Canada's hospitality & tourism industry. For more information, please contact: Forward Looking Statements/Information: This news release contains certain statements which constitute forward-looking statements or information, including statements regarding the terms of the Proposed Offering, the Partial Revocation Order, the intended use of the proceeds of the Proposed Offering, the time to complete the Annual Filings and Interim Filings, and other statements characterized by words such as "anticipates,” "may,” "can,” "plans,” "believes,” "estimates,” "expects,” "projects,” "targets,” "intends,” "likely,” "will,” "should,” "to be”, "potential” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may”, "should” or "will” occur . Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the Company's control, including, without limitation, market competition, the impact of general economic and industry conditions, competition, stock market volatility, BCSC and TSXV approval conditions, and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although the Company believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: Fobi not receiving approval of the TSXV with respect to any future issuances of securities as required; and changes to volatile exchange rates, market conditions, market competition and other economic and market factors. This forward-looking information may be affected by risks and uncertainties in the business of the Company and market conditions. As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future plans, operations, and results, levels of activity or achievements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to achieve all or any of its proposed objectives. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.