Axis Auto Finance, the non-prime lender servicing the Canadian used vehicle market, has appointed Paul Stoyan as chairman.
Stoyan is the chairman of Canadian business law firm Gardiner Roberts, and practices law with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and corporate governance.
He also works with several companies in the technology sector and has assisted in a range of cross-border transactions, public listings and establishing corporate governance regimes.
He currently also serves on the board of directors of ECN Capital Corporation and Enghouse Systems and is a past chairman of the business law section of the Ontario Bar Association.
Stoyan has previously served as a director of Open Text Corporation, a publicly-traded software company, and as a director of Element Financial Corporation.
He said: “I am excited to join the Axis Board and feel that I can make meaningful contributions to the company’s development.
“Next to organic growth, there is a clearly identified opportunity for a roll-up strategy in the Canadian non-prime finance market, a strategy I am well familiar with.”
Todd Hudson, newly-appointed CEO of Axis Auto Finance, said: “We are excited to welcome Paul Stoyan to our board. His decades of experience in M&A, corporate finance and corporate governance, will be very valuable as we continue to grow Axis organically and through additional acquisitions.”
Hudson joined as CEO of Axis in March, with more than 25 years of sales and operations management experience in the Canadian alternative lending industry.
He was previously COO of ECN Capital and before that executive vice-president of originations at Element Financial Corporation.
Hudson has also held roles as president and founder of Hathway Financial, a financial services company that specialized in small to midsized commercial credits in the transportation, construction and industrial equipment markets. He has also held roles at Newcourt and CIT Group, with responsibilities for national vendor programs in the transportation, construction and automotive sectors.
The appointments coincide with the departure of Josh Arbuckle and Robert Howe, who have resigned their positions on the Axis board.
Ilja Troitschanski, president of Axis, said: “We would like to thank Josh Arbuckle and Robert Howe for their valuable contributions as members of the board.
“Their strategic leadership in the early stages of our development contributed greatly to what Axis has become.”
Other recent boardroom changes include the appointment of Gerry Thom and Wes Neichenbauer, while David Mitchell and Fraser Clarke have resigned from the board.
Axis provides non-standard financing options targeting roughly 30% of Canadians that do not qualify for traditional bank-type financing for their used vehicle purchase.
During the first quarter of 2018, Axis acquired Cars on Credit Financial, a competing non-prime auto finance lender.
The acquisition boosted Q1 2018 revenues, with Axis revealing first quarter net finance receivables of $58.3 million, compared to $20 million for the first quarter of 2017.
Revenues were $3.5 million, compared to $1.8 million for the same period last year.
