Tuscan Equity owned ThinkSmart was founded by Ned Montarello in 1996 and is a specialist digital payments platform business with a shareholding in NYSE-listed Block, Inc (NYSE: SQ) (“Block”) and operations within retail consumer and business finance together with providing an outsourced call centre customer support service for Clearpay (part of Block).
ThinkSmart has two areas of strategic focus:
A shareholding within NYSE-listed Block Inc
ThinkSmart holds shares in Block, the NYSE-listed global technology and payments group that, through its subsidiaries, is providing economic empowerment by creating the tools to help expand access to the economy.
Tuscan Equity believes there is significant potential for future value accretion for ThinkSmart’s holding in Block.
Tuscan Equity, as the primary Investment vehicle for the Montarello Family office, along with its sister entity Barbera Capital, will look to utilise its experience in the Financial Technology sector for similar strategic investments in great disruptive businesses, that are leveraging innovative Technology, AI and Blockchain platforms.
Background
ThinkSmart has a rich heritage in delivering value via strategic investments and initiatives:
- Pioneering digital POS finance in Australia from 1996 with founder, Ned Montarello, receiving recognition with EY Australian Entrepreneur of the Year award in 1998
- International expansion commenced in 2003 with UK beachhead partnering with Dixons and a joint venture with HBOS followed by further expansion into Europe and US
- Successful $204m Australian listing in 2007
and, following the sale of its Australian and NZ
operations, migrated it’s listing to the UK AIM in
2016 - Launched Clearpay in UK in 2017 before selling
90% of that business to Afterpay in 2018 with the remainder exchanged for shares in Block as part of the $39bn Block acquisition of Afterpay - In 2022 Ned established Tuscan Equity as the buy-out vehicle to take ThinkSmart private through a Scheme of Arrangement which was implemented in December 2022
