Alcanna Changes Liquor Division Management and Reorganizes Corporate Structure by Purchasing the Canadian Liquor Retailers Al...
January 22 2020 - 8:00AM
Alcanna Inc. (the “Company” or “Alcanna”) (TSX: CLIQ) today
announced that it has promoted five individuals to oversee the
Company’s liquor division. Taranvir (Tank) Vander is now President
of Liquor responsible for the operations of all Alcanna liquor
brands. Mr. Vander was previously CEO of the Canadian Liquor
Retailers Alliance Limited Partnership (the “Alliance”) which owned
Alcanna’s discount banners Ace, Solo and Deep Discount
Liquor. In addition, Karan Vander, Nab Dhaliwal and Jerry
Dhaliwal have each been promoted to Vice President roles,
responsible for operations, merchandising, and marketing &
purchasing, respectively, for all Alcanna liquor brands; roles
similar to their roles within the Alliance. Don Bobey has been
named Chief Operating Officer of Liquor for all of Alcanna’s liquor
brands – the same role he held with the Alliance.
To align Mr. Vander, Karan Vander, Nab Dhaliwal and
Jerry Dhaliwals’ interests in the Alliance (held via their indirect
ownership in Ace Liquor Corporation ("Ace")) with that of all
Alcanna shareholders, Ace will exchange its units in the Alliance
for 2,927,928 common shares in the capital of Alcanna (the
“Shares”). The transaction has been valued at $13 million, with
Alcanna issuing the Shares at a price of $4.44 per Share, which
represents the five-day volume-weighted average price of trading of
the Shares prior to January 22, 2020. Following the completion of
this transaction, Alcanna will own, itself or through wholly owned
subsidiaries, 100% of the Alliance and Ace will own approximately
7.3% of the Shares of Alcanna.
“This transaction is an indication of the
confidence that Tank Vander and his team have in the Company and
all the stores in all our markets and across all our brands. To
exchange their units in the Alliance, a discount banner they know,
into shares of Alcanna is testament to their belief in the
tremendous opportunities for our company,” said James Burns,
Alcanna’s Vice Chair and CEO.
Alcanna entered the discount liquor market in 2018
with its own banner, Deep Discount Liquor. On January 14, 2019, Ace
joined the Alliance with the Alliance’s acquisition of 12 opened
and 3 unopened stores from Ace in consideration for an
approximately 29% partnership interest in the Alliance.
Alcanna had previously contributed 50 stores to the Alliance. The
purpose of the formation of the Alliance and the acquisition of the
Ace stores was to develop and grow a discount liquor business in
the Province of Alberta.
“My partners in Ace and I are excited to be able to
participate in all of Alcanna and be totally aligned with our now
fellow shareholders in the company," added Tank Vander. "Obviously,
we would not have agreed to this transaction if we didn’t have a
strong belief in the future of the industry in general and Alcanna
especially.”
Over the course of 2019, Mr. Vander led the
successful development of the Alliance's discount liquor business,
which included the re-branding of stores contributed to the
Alliance by an Alcanna subsidiary and the acquisition of 28 stores
and 2 leased locations from Solo Liquor via a court-appointed
receiver.
The Board of Directors of the Company has reviewed
and unanimously approved the terms of the Exchange Agreement and
the transactions contemplated thereby.
The completion of the transaction is subject to
receiving approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange to list the
Shares to be issued to Ace.
Concurrent with the closing of the transaction, Ace
and Alcanna will enter into a lock-up agreement pursuant to which
Ace will agree not to dispose of any of the Shares for a period of
two years, subject to certain exceptions.
ABOUT ALCANNA INC.
Alcanna is one of the largest private sector
retailers of alcohol in North America and the largest in Canada by
number of stores – operating 254 locations in Alberta, British
Columbia and Alaska. The Company also operates cannabis retail
stores under the “Nova Cannabis” brand, with locations in the
Provinces of Alberta and Ontario. With revenues in excess of $700
million per year, Alcanna processes over 20 million individual
retail transactions of beverage alcohol and cannabis.
Alcanna's common shares and convertible
subordinated debentures trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under
the symbols "CLIQ" and "CLIQ.DB", respectively.
Additional information about Alcanna Inc. is
available at www.sedar.com and the Company’s website at
www.alcanna.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains forward-looking
statements or information (collectively "forward-looking
statements") within the meaning of applicable securities
legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by
words such as “believe”, “intend”, “anticipate”, "will", "should",
“plan”, “expect” and similar words suggesting future events or
future performance. All statements and information other than
statements of historical fact contained in this news release are
forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release
contains forward-looking statements pertaining to the anticipated
closing of the transaction to acquire Ace's partnership interests
in the Alliance in consideration for the Shares, the TSX's approval
of the listing of the Shares and the entering into of the lock-up
agreement. Although the Company believes that the
expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements, and the
assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are
reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations and
assumptions will prove to be correct. Readers should not place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements included in this news
release. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that
may cause actual performance and financial results to differ
materially from any estimates, forecasts or projections. These
risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the risk that
the necessary approval from the TSX will not be obtained, and the
other factors described in the Company’s public filings (including
the Annual Information Form) available at www.sedar.com. Readers
are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be
construed as exhaustive. The forward-looking statements contained
in this news release are made as of the date hereof. Except as
expressly required by applicable securities legislation, Alcanna
does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements
contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this
cautionary statement.
For Further Information
James BurnsVice Chair and Chief Executive
OfficerAlcanna Inc. (587) 460-1026james.burns@alcanna.com
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