News Roundup August 2018
A monthly summary of the key events taking place in the Colombian medicinal cannabis industry
Financial
Khiron signs letter of intent to ac- quire leading health network
In early August, Khiron (TSXV: KHRN) announced it entered a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) with the Latin American Institute of Neurology and the Nervous System (ILANS). Khiron Colombia SAS expects to acquire the total number of shares of the ILANS Bogotá Clinic, which represents an estimated 100,000 patients and revenues worth 10.8 mill. USD for the Canadian integrated company, who expects to launch their first products before the end of the present year.
MYM Nutraceuticals partners with Dutch Passion to enter Colombian market
MYM Nutraceuticals (CSE: MYM) announced it entered an agreement with Dutch Passion Seed Company to distribute and produce Dutch Passion products and seed genetics in Colombia. According to the agreement signed in early August, MYM Nutraceuticals holds the exclusive rights to sell current and future Dutch Passion products in Colombia, such as clones, seeds, cannabis derivatives and others.
MMJ Colombia Partners completes acquisition of Colcanna SAS, now fully licensed
MMJ Colombia Partners, a privately-owned Canadian company, completed its acquisition of 90% of Colombian cannabis company Colcanna SAS, now fully licensed to cultivate, import, extract and commercialize THC and cannabinoid derivatives. Scythian Biosciences (TSXV: SCYB) announced in early April they entered a letter of intent to acquire 90% of MMJ Colombia Partners, now one step closer after the Colcanna SAS acquisition.
MedReleaf Corp acquires MED Colombia SAS
MedReleaf Corp (TSXV: LEAF) announced in late July it acquired MED Colombia SAS, a company fully licensed to cultivate and produce cannabis extracts, as well as an available variety of seed genetics. MedReleaf paid MED Colombia SAS 2.75 mill. EUR in cash to complete the acquisition.
Avicanna acquires Santa Marta Golden Hemp SAS and closes deal with Daabon
El Grupo Daabon, the largest organic agriculture company in Latin America, entered a joint venture with Avicanna Inc., who recently acquired 60% of fully-licensed Colombian company Santa Marta Golden Hemp. In exchange for this acquisition, Avicanna granted Daabon 1,477,818 common shares and entered a joint venture which promises to combine Avicanna’s biotechnology and reserch experience and Daabon’s agriculture knowledge to expand Santa Marta Golden Hemp’scultivation area up to 15,000 hectares. CEO of Avicanna Aras Azadian confirmed they expect to launch organic and certified cannabis through its subsidiary Santa Marta Golden Hemp.
Khiron lists on OTCQB Venture Mar- ket
Three months after becoming the first Colombian cannabis company to list on TSX:V and hiring former Mexican president Vicente Fox as a member of the Board of Directors, on August 15th Khiron Lifesciences Corp. announced its entry to OTCQB Venture Market, the NYC based venture market for US and international companies, where it will be trading its common shares under the ticket KHRNF.
Constellation Brands invests 4bill USD to increase its stake at Canopy Growth Corp.
Last year Constellation Brands, owner of Corona and several other liquor brands, bought a 10% stake in Canadian canna- bis producer Canopy Growth Corp., just days after their announcement of full acquisition of Spectrum Cannabis Chile. By investing 4bill USD, Constellation Brands was able to up its stake to 38%, with the option to acquire a controlling stake of over 50%. Even though Constellation’s shares dropped 6% after the announcement was made, CEO Rod Sands believes cannabis is an exciting sector to be, calling it “potentially one of the most significant growth opportunities over the next decade.”
Pharmacielo closes Subscription Receipt Financings in two tranches for GP of over $39mill USD.
After announcing the cultivation of 45,000 additional THC-dominant plans, the company also announced the closing of the previous private placement offering of subscription receipts co-led by Echelon Wealth Partners Inc, Comark Securities Inc and GMP Securities LP, which resulted in aggregate gross proceeds of approximately 39.2mill USD. According to CEO Anthony Wile, the closing allows Pharmacielo to continue its plans to expand cultivation and laboratory facilities in order to produce cannabis extracts by the first half of 2019.
Cultivation
Khiron expands its cannabis cultivation capacity
In the first days of August, Khiron announced it had notified the Colombian Ministry of Justice their expansion up to 17,5 hectares. The company’s current capacity allows them to cultivate 8,000 tons of dry flower, and the announced expansion will allow them to cultivate up to 100,000 tons of dry flower. According to CEO Alvaro Torres, this expansion responds to the company’s goal to reach 1 million patients in Latin America and launch products before the conclusion of 2018.
Pharmacielo plants additional 45,000 cannabis plants
PharmaCielo Colombia Holdings SAS announced in late July it planted 45,000 THC-dominant cannabis plants, additional to the 200,000 CBD-dominant plants it was allowed by the government quota. The company expects the CBD-dominant crops planted in 2017 to be ready in the following weeks, and the company plans to add an additional hectare for cultivation per month, as al- lowed by Colombian regulations.