Auxly Congratulates Partner ICC International Cannabis Corp on Acquisition of Portuguese Hemp Company
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. (TSX.V - XLY) ("Auxly" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its strategic international partner, ICC International Cannabis Corp. ("ICC") (CSE: WRLD), has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Enigma Unipessoal Lda (“Enigma”).
Enigma is a large-scale hemp operator based in Castelo Branco, Portugal with licenses to cultivate, extract, import, export and process hemp derived products on 400 acres of land. Having acquired one of the first hemp licenses to be issued in Portugal, Enigma successfully harvested its first crop in 2015 and is a notable importer of proprietary hemp seeds. ICC anticipates that Enigma will be able to produce, at scale, approximately 45,000 kilograms of extracted CBD isolate per annum. Enigma expects to release both branded and white-labelled CBD products as soon as the first quarter of 2019, in particular, Enigma’s product portfolio will consist of CBD-infused chocolate, CBD oils and CBD-based topical creams.
Commercial Rights Agreement with ICC
In connection with the strategic investment and commercial rights agreement announced on September 17, 2018, Auxly has become a preferred commercial partner to ICC on its current and future international and domestic cannabis ventures, including Enigma, for a period of 10 years. In particular, during the term, Auxly has a right of first refusal, in respect of: supplying ICC's extensive world-wide distribution channels in the event that ICC is looking to source cannabis products outside of the ICC group; any sale or off-take agreement pursuant to which ICC intends to sell or distribute cannabis products to any third party outside of the ICC group; purchasing any of ICC’s assets (including its subsidiaries) in the event that it intends to sell any such assets to a third party outside of the ICC group; and licensing any intellectual property owned or developed by ICC, or its subsidiaries, in the event that ICC intends to license such intellectual property outside of the ICC group.
Management Commentary
Hugo Alves, President and Director of Auxly commented: “We would like to congratulate our strategic international partner, ICC, on yet another significant acquisition. We are excited at the prospect of working with ICC and Enigma in Portugal, a global leader in drug policy reform and one of the key emerging jurisdictions in the global trend towards cannabis legalization. We look forward to working with Eugene and his team as they continue to execute on their strategy of building a meaningful presence in international cannabis markets.”
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Chuck Rifici" Chairman & CEO
About Auxly (TSX.V: XLY)
Auxly is a vertically integrated cannabis company with diverse operations across Canada and Uruguay. The company was formed with the primary intent of providing financing solutions to cannabis licence applicants, and has evolved into a platform spanning the entire cannabis value chain. Auxly’s management believes that a vertically integrated model, adapted for the cannabis space, allows for substantive control over its operations through increased operational flexibility, economic resiliency and improved product margin dynamics in an effort to create long term shareholder value. Auxly currently operates three distinct, yet synergistic, segments:
• Upstream – Auxly’s diverse cannabis cultivation platform across its streaming partners, joint ventures and wholly-owned subsidiaries;
• Midstream – Auxly’s processing and development platform focused on the development of proprietary cannabis-derived products and related intellectual property to address consumer needs through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Dosecann; and
• Downstream – Auxly’s medical and recreational distribution platform.
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Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements:
This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. This information is only a prediction. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking information throughout this news release. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to: political changes in Canada and internationally, future legislative and regulatory developments involving cannabis in Canada and internationally, the Company’s ability to secure distribution channels in international jurisdictions, competition and other risks affecting the Company in particular and the cannabis industry generally.
A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from a conclusion, forecast or projection contained in the forward-looking information in this release including, but not limited to, whether: ICC is able to obtain and maintain its international cannabis licences, the Company and ICC are able to successfully develop and maintain their international distribution channels for cannabis products, ICC can obtain all necessary governmental and regulatory permits and approvals for its facilities (including permits for import and export), and whether such permits and approvals can be obtained in a timely manner, and general economic, financial market, legislative, regulatory, competitive and political conditions in which the Company operates will remain the same. Additional risk factors are disclosed in the revised annual information form of the Company for the financial year ended December 31, 2017, dated May 24, 2018.
New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all of those factors or to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Company's business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this release is based on information currently available and what management believes are reasonable assumptions. Forward-looking information speaks only to such assumptions as of the date of this release. In addition, this release may contain forward-looking information attributed to third party industry sources, the accuracy of which has not been verified by the Company. The purpose of forward-looking information is to provide the reader with a description of management's expectations, and such forward-looking information may not be appropriate for any other purpose. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information contained in this release.
The forward-looking information contained in this release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements and is made as of the date of this release. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking information to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange, Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.