ARLINGTON, Texas and FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 31, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Cash Financial Services (NASDAQ:FCFS) and Cash America International, Inc. (NYSE:CSH) announced today that the shareholders of both First Cash and Cash America overwhelmingly approved the merger of equals transaction between the two companies at their respective special meetings held earlier today. The closing of the merger transaction is expected to occur on September 1, 2016. The combined company will be named FirstCash, Inc. and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol of FCFS where it will begin trading on September 2, 2016.

Commenting on the merger, Rick L. Wessel, Chief Executive Officer of First Cash, and T. Brent Stuart, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cash America, jointly said, “We are extremely pleased with the exceptionally strong support of both sets of shareholders in approving the merger between Cash America and First Cash. We are now focused on successfully integrating the businesses and realizing the anticipated benefits of the merger that will bring together the leading pawn lenders in both the U.S. and Latin American markets. The combined company will have over 2,000 locations in the U.S. and Latin America with total annual revenue of approximately $1.8 billion, which we believe represents the largest pawn lender in the world.”

About First Cash
With over 1,270 retail and consumer lending locations in the U.S., Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, First Cash Financial Services, Inc. is a leading international operator of pawn stores. First Cash focuses on serving cash and credit constrained consumers through its retail pawn locations, which buy and sell a wide variety of jewelry, consumer electronics, power tools, household appliances, sporting goods, musical instruments and other merchandise, and make small consumer pawn loans secured by pledged personal property. Approximately 97% of the Company’s revenues are from pawn operations.

First Cash is a component company in both the Standard & Poor’s SmallCap 600 Index® and theRussell 2000 Index®. For additional information regarding First Cash and the services it provides, visit First Cash’s website located at http://www.firstcash.com.

About Cash America
As of June 30, 2016, Cash America operated 889 total locations in the U.S. offering pawn lending and related services to consumers and included the following:

• 817 lending locations in 20 states in the U.S. primarily under the names “Cash America Pawn,” “SuperPawn,” “Cash America Payday Advance,” and “Cashland;” and
• 72 check cashing centers (all of which are unconsolidated franchised check cashing centers) operating in 12 states in the U.S. under the name “Mr. Payroll.”

For additional information regarding Cash America and the services it provides, visit Cash America’s website located at http://www.cashamerica.com.