/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S./

TORONTO, Aug. 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Urbana Corporation ("Urbana" or the “Corporation”) (TSX and CSE: URB, URB.A) congratulates Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC (“Blue Ocean”) of New Jersey on its new strategic partnership with the Tokyo Stock Exchange (the “Strategic Partnership”). As part of the new partnership, the TSE is expected to make a 5% investment into Blue Ocean Technologies. The transaction is anticipated to close September 2023. Urbana’s ownership remains at approximately 35% of Blue Ocean.

Urbana is optimistic having the Tokyo Stock Exchange as a co-investor in Blue Ocean and believes that this new Strategic Partnership between the two organizations will accelerate Blue Ocean’s growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

The full text of Blue Ocean’s press release, on August 7, 2023, on this Strategic Partnership is below.

Blue Ocean is a unique capital markets fintech company empowering global investors by making trading possible during U.S. overnight trading hours through its proprietary trading platform.

For further information contact:

Elizabeth Naumovski
Investor Relations
(416) 595-9106 [email protected]

Certain statements in this news release constitute “forward-looking” statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Urbana to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Unless required by applicable securities law, Urbana does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Blue Ocean Technologies & Tokyo Stock Exchange Announce Partnership & Strategic Investment

Blue Ocean ATS Gains Footprint into Japan

NEW YORK and TOKYO, Aug. 7, 2023 -- Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC (BOT), a unique capital markets fintech leader in global afterhours trading, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) announced today a strategic partnership expanding the trading customer base of both Blue Ocean ATS, the Blue Ocean trading platform, and TSE. As part of the new partnership, the TSE will make a 5% investment into Blue Ocean Technologies. The transaction is expected to close September 2023.

As part of the new strategic alliance, Blue Ocean Technologies will enter the Japanese trading market for the first time adding to its continued growth within the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. TSE will provide BOT reliable, transparent, and efficient trading access in Japan by leveraging its expertise on Japanese market structure and regulation. TSE will also seek to provide Blue Ocean ATS' customers cross-border trading opportunities of Japanese equities.

Brian Hyndman, President and CEO of Blue Ocean Technologies and Blue Ocean ATS, commented, "Today we are delighted to take a strategic step in our mission of increasing our footprint within the Asia-Pacific region. Our partnership with the Tokyo Stock Exchange is both a strategic development for Blue Ocean and for all Japanese investors, providing them the opportunity to trade US stocks during their daytime hours. Furthermore, we are very excited to have a global capital markets leader like the TSE validate our business model with their investment, which will contribute to our overall business growth, technology and infrastructure development while providing new trading choices and transparency for local Japanese investors," he added.

"Blue Ocean ATS is a unique and ambitious US equities trading venue operating in the Asian time zone, and we are looking forward to working with them," said Hiroki Kawai, Senior Executive Officer of Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. "We hope to expand the business and customer base of both Blue Ocean and TSE to provide a variety of investment opportunities to investors in both Japan and the US."

In addition to Blue Ocean Technologies' growth within Japan, Blue Ocean has a presence in other key APAC markets such as South Korea and Hong Kong. Blue Ocean Technologies is approximately 35% owned by Urbana Corporation, a Canadian, publicly traded investment company.

About Blue Ocean Technologies:

Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC (BOT) is a unique capital markets fintech company empowering global investors by making trading possible during US overnight trading hours. Blue Ocean ATS, LLC, and its trading system Blue Ocean Alternative Trading System (BOATS), currently trade US National Market System (NMS) stocks from 8:00 pm to 4:00 am ET from Sunday – Thursday. Founded in 2019, Blue Ocean ATS is on a mission to transform US trading to Global trading via its flagship service, Blue Ocean Session, providing access and transparency to subscribers in all time zones during non-traditional US market hours. For more information, visit www.blueocean-tech.io or contact us at [email protected].

SOURCE Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC