CALGARY, Sept. 3, 2019 /CNW/ - SugarBud Craft Growers
Corp. (TSXV: SUGR, SUGR.WT) ("SugarBud" or
the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has
received cultivation, processing and medical sales licenses (the
"Licenses") from Health Canada in respect to "Phase 1A" of
the Company's fully constructed, state-of-the-art 29,800
square-foot vertical cannabis cultivation facility in Stavely, Alberta.
Operating Update
The newly licensed "Phase 1A" area of the Stavely facility includes two dedicated flower
rooms and all the necessary auxiliary rooms to support an estimated
annual cultivation design capacity of approximately 3,300,000 –
3,890,000 grams per year at full scale production. SugarBud will
immediately commence cultivation and expects to complete its
initial two harvests in December
2019, after which SugarBud intends to submit an application
to Health Canada to amend the Licenses to permit cultivation in the
remaining six flower rooms in Phase 1 of the facility. At full
operational levels, with four layers of flowering canopy, the
estimated total cultivation design capacity for Phase 1 is expected
to be approximately 13,230,000 – 15,565,000 grams per year.
SugarBud expects to begin construction on Phase 2 of the facility
in 2020. At full scale the facility is expected to occupy
approximately 98,000 square-feet of floor space encompassing core
production activities such as cultivation, extraction, processing,
genetic breeding, research and development, product development,
packaging and distribution. Upon completion of Phase 2,
SugarBud estimates that the Stavely facility will have a total cultivation
design capacity of approximately 33,075,000 - 38,912,000 grams of
premium cannabis annually. Phase 1 is estimated to cost
approximately $22.2 million with four
layers of flowering canopy. Of this amount, approximately
$11.7 million remains to be deployed
to complete Phase 1 of the facility. The Company must access
additional capital funding to complete Phase 1 through a
combination of debt, equity and convertible securities. The Company
will commence construction of Phase 2 when capital permits.
Mr. John Kondrosky, Chief
Executive Officer of SugarBud, stated: "Receipt of our Licenses
from Health Canada is a pivotal milestone for the Company and a
major catalyst for our business. I would like to personally thank
each and every member of the SugarBud team, including our
consultants, for their diligence, effort and commitment over the
past year. It was a tremendous effort by everyone involved. As a
premium product provider, focused on quality, product leadership
and customer satisfaction, we believe that the heart and soul of
everything we do starts with what we grow. We cannot wait to
officially launch that mission and deliver on that promise. I would
like to take this opportunity to thank our investors and
shareholders for their ongoing support as we continue to execute on
our high-impact business plan."
Corporate Update
SugarBud is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Bradley
K. Giblin CA, CFA as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial
Officer of the Company effective September
9th, 2019. Mr. Giblin has more than 18
years of experience in finance, business development,
corporate strategy and accounting roles. Mr. Giblin holds Chartered
Professional Accountant (CPA CA) and Chartered Financial Analyst
(CFA) designations. Prior to SugarBud, Mr. Giblin was Chief
Financial Officer of Mount Bastion Oil and Gas Corp., a high growth
energy company that was acquired by Surge Energy Inc. for
$320 million, a 2x return on
investment in a two-year timeframe. Mr. Giblin also led a
successful IPO of Maha Energy Inc. on the First North Nasdaq market
in Sweden, as well as performing
other high impact roles as Chief Financial Officer in publicly
traded, start-up companies. Mr. John
Kondrosky stated: "Brad brings tremendous experience and
leadership to a critical role for SugarBud and I am very pleased to
welcome him to our team."
SugarBud would like to announce that Mr. Craig Kolochuk, co-founder, President and a
Director of the Company, has for personal reasons, stepped down as
President and a Director effective today. However, Mr. Kolochuk
will continue to contribute to the organization as a Special
Advisor to the Company on matters of business development,
corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Kondrosky will
assume the role of President in the interim.
"Craig has done a phenomenal job in his time at SugarBud
following the February 2018
recapitalization of the Company overseeing the construction of the
Stavely facility and preparing
SugarBud for licensing. I look forward to working closely with
Craig in his new capacity to advance SugarBud's vision and mission
as we enter a new and critical phase of our growth," said Mr.
Kondrosky.
Mr. Dan Wilson, Chairman of the
Board of Directors of SugarBud, stated: "The management team of
SugarBud, led by Craig Kolochuk,
have been instrumental in positioning the Company to receive its
Licenses from Health Canada. SugarBud will continue to benefit from
Craig's experience in building high-growth, publicly traded
companies."
About SugarBud
SugarBud is a federally licensed Alberta-based publicly traded cannabis company
focused on the cultivation and production of high-quality premium
cannabis, and product leadership through the development,
production and distribution of value-added cannabis products in
Canada.
Forward Looking and Cautionary Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements. More
particularly, and without limitation, this news release contains
statements concerning: the Company's assessment of future plans and
operations; cannabis cultivation in the Company's newly licensed
"Phase 1A" area; the expected submission of a license amendment
application; construction of additional flower rooms and the scale
thereof; cost of construction and sources and availability of
funds; estimates regarding cannabis crop capacity, yield and
frequency in respect of the initial phase of the facility and
subsequent phases; product quality; cultivation equipment and
technologies, including vertical growing; management changes; and
operating efficiencies. When used in this document, the words
"will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intent,"
"may," "project," "should," and similar expressions are intended to
be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of
expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Forward-looking
statements are subject to a wide range of risks and uncertainties,
and although the Company believes that the expectations represented
by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no
assurance that such expectations will be realized. Any number of
important factors could cause actual results to differ materially
from those in the forward-looking statements including, but not
limited to: currently contemplated expansion and development plans
may cease or otherwise change; production of cannabis may be lower
than expected, SugarBud may not obtain the required approvals from
Health Canada, demand for SugarBud's products may be lower than
anticipated; the ability to implement corporate strategies;
the state of domestic capital markets; the ability to obtain
financing; changes in general market conditions; industry
conditions and events; the size of the medical marijuana market and
the recreational marijuana market; government regulations,
including future legislative and regulatory developments involving
medical and recreational marijuana; construction delays; risks
inherent in the agricultural business, such as insects, plant
diseases and similar agricultural risks which can have a
significant impact on the size and quality of the harvest of
cannabis crops; competition from other industry participants; and
other factors more fully described from time to time in the reports
and filings made by the Company with securities regulatory
authorities. Please refer to the Company's annual information form
("AIF") for the year ended December 31,
2017 and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A")
for the three and six months ended June 30,
2019 for additional risk factors relating to the Company.
The AIF and MD&A can be accessed under the Company's profile
on www.sedar.com.
This news release contains future-oriented financial information
and financial outlook information (collectively, "FOFI") about
SugarBud's prospective results of operations, future cannabis
production capacity, yield and operating efficiencies, all of which
are subject to the same assumptions, risk factors, limitations, and
qualifications as set forth in the above paragraphs. FOFI contained
in this document was approved by management as of the date of this
document and was provided for the purpose of providing further
information about SugarBud's future business operations. SugarBud
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any FOFI
contained in this document, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, unless required pursuant to applicable
law. Readers are cautioned that the FOFI contained in this document
should not be used for purposes other than for which it is
disclosed herein.
Except as required by applicable laws, the Company does not
undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements.
Neither the TSXV nor its regulation services provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
SOURCE SugarBud Craft Growers Corp.