VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 4, 2020 /CNW/ - Village Farms
International, Inc. ("Village Farms" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:
VFF) (TSX: VFF) today announced that it has executed a binding
agreement ("the Agreement") to acquire 6.6% of Australia-based Altum International Pty Ltd
("Altum"), one of the Asia-Pacific's leading cannabinoid platforms,
subject to the completion of certain conditions, which are expected
to be finalized in the next several weeks. Under the terms of
the Agreement, Village Farms has the option to increase its
ownership in Altum on similar terms.
Altum's mission is to bring the life-changing benefits of
cannabinoids (with focus on CBD) to consumers across the
Asia-Pacific region through a
comprehensive platform for the large-scale importation,
distribution and marketing of CBD, composed of three channels, with
an overriding focus on regulatory compliance for each specific
country market:
- Proprietary Consumer Brands – Fully-owned consumer brands,
currently consisting of Felix and Co (www.felixandco.com),
Kind Cannabis and tsubomi;
- Commercial Inputs – A range of cost-competitive, compliant and
effective premium CBD ingredients through its LIFE brand
(www.lifecbd.asia), designed for seamless addition to foods,
beverages, cosmetics and other consumer packaged goods; and,
- Retail – Retail sales and educational and experiential stores
for both Altum and partner products.
Altum has initially focused on opportunities in Hong Kong, which has one of the most
progressive attitudes and regulatory regimes for CBD in the
Asia-Pacific region. It has
already launched a broad range of CBD products under its Felix
and Co brand to very favorable customer feedback and strong
initial sales traction. In its Commercial Input channel,
Altum is supplying craft brewers for CBD-infused beer, as well as
market-wide coffee chains and juice bars for beverages and edibles,
and is in advanced discussions for supply agreements to
provide inputs for a range of other products, including
pet food, cosmetics, and spa products for hotels. In
June 2020, Altum opened a boutique
café and retail concept store in Hong
Kong named Found – Asia's first dedicated CBD consumer outlet.
Altum plans to pursue its business strategy throughout the
Asia-Pacific region, including but
not limited to Greater China,
Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Australia and New
Zealand, with the goal to be commercially active in at
least three additional countries in the next 12
months.
Altum is also pursuing high-THC medical cannabis opportunities
in Australia and New Zealand, where medicinal cannabis is
already legal in both countries, and intends to pursue recreational
cannabis opportunities in each of those countries should
legalization occur. Altum is well positioned to capitalise on
the medicinal cannabis opportunity in New
Zealand via a 49% interest in Kariki Pharma Limited
(www.karikipharma.com). Kariki is a New
Zealand-domiciled medicinal cannabis company focused on
creating a suite of pharmaceutical quality medicinal cannabis for
New Zealand, Australian, Asian,
and European patients and export markets. New Zealand intends to hold a national
referendum on the legalization of the recreational use of cannabis
on 19 September 2020.
"On the heels of our recent investment in the Netherlands, our partnership with Altum
represents another meaningful step to leverage our three decades of
experience in vertically integrated, intensive agriculture, as well
as our cannabis success in Canada,
for international CBD and cannabis opportunities," said
Michael DeGiglio, CEO, Village Farms
International. "Village Farms is at a place where, with
well-established North American operations, continuously refined
and enhanced for optimized performance and growth, we are able to
turn our attention to strategic, early-stage international
opportunities where CBD and cannabis are being legalized in our
pursuit of well-researched capital allocation for the generation of
outsized, long-term returns."
"With approximately 4.5 billion people – more than four times
that of the U.S., Canada and
Europe combined – the Asia-Pacific market represents one such
sizeable but nascent opportunity, with the addressable market for
cannabis alone forecast to reach US$10
billion by 2024. Altum is an outstanding organization
at the very forefront of the emerging CBD industry in the
Asia-Pacific region and represents
a capital efficient means by which to participate in this
significant opportunity, as well as the legal medical, and
potentially the legal recreational, cannabis markets in
Australia and New Zealand."
"For a year now, we have watched Altum successfully execute on
its business plan and now very much look forward to working
collaboratively with Altum's exceptional leadership team, with its
deep experience throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including extensive
consumer packaged goods experience, and the vision, plan and
capability to be the leader throughout this market. We also
look forward to exploring the numerous synergistic opportunities
that exist amongst our businesses."
Ean Alexander, Chief Executive Officer, Altum International
stated, "We are thrilled to commence our partnership with Village
Farms, as we grow the strength and depth of our three commercial
channel types across the Asia-Pacific region in the coming year.
This is truly a win-win outcome for both parties and our respective
shareholders, as together we will be able to scale Altum's business
in what we expect will be one of the world's largest cannabinoid
consumer markets – with significant additional potential in the
over-the-counter and prescription cannabis markets. As a
partner, we expect Village Farms to be invaluable in enabling a
sustainable, long-term competitive advantage for Altum via its
complementary skill sets based on decades of agricultural
experience, including specific modern best practice know-how in
cannabis cultivation at scale, and a pipeline of product innovation
and category expertise."
Notes
1. Source: Prohibition Partners, Asian Cannabis Report
2019
About Altum International Pty Ltd
Altum is delivering significant positive change for consumers in
Asia-Pacific markets. With
its comprehensive range of B2B and B2C cannabinoid products, Altum
navigates a complex regulatory landscape in order to meet an
exploding regional demand for the next generation of consumer
wellness; all powered by quality, cost-competitive and highly
effective cannabinoids.
With a global mindset and regionally oriented team, Altum is
creating sustainable value for its shareholders and partners
through first-to-market, safe and compliant access to cannabinoids
for customers. For more information, visit
www.altum.group.
About Village Farms International, Inc.
Village Farms is one of the largest and longest-operating
vertically integrated greenhouse growers in North America. Village Farms produces and
distributes fresh, premium-quality produce year-round to national
grocers in the U.S. and Canada
from more than nine million square feet of Controlled Environment
Agriculture (CEA) greenhouses in Canada and the U.S., as well as from its
partner greenhouses in Canada and
Mexico. The Company is leveraging its 30 years of experience
as a large-scale, low-cost vertically integrated grower for the
rapidly emerging global cannabis and CBD opportunities. In
Canada, British-Columbia-based Pure Sunfarms
(majority-owned by Village Farms) is one of the single largest
cannabis operations in the world and one of the best-selling brands
in the country. In the U.S., subject to compliance with all
applicable U.S. federal and state laws, the Company is pursuing a
strategy become a leading developer and supplier of branded and
white-labeled CBD products targeting "big box" and other
major retailers and consumer packaged goods companies, and with one
the largest greenhouse operations in country, is well positioned
for the potential federal legalization of high-THC cannabis.
Internationally, Village Farms is strategically targeting nascent,
legal cannabis and CBD opportunities with significant long-term
potential.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and is
subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This press
release also contains "forward-looking information" within the
meaning of applicable Canadian securities law. We refer to such
forward-looking statements and forward-looking information
collectively as "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking
statements may relate to the Company's future outlook or financial
position and anticipated events or results and may include
statements regarding the financial position, business strategy,
budgets, expansion plans, litigation, projected production,
projected costs, capital expenditures, financial results, taxes,
plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Particularly,
statements regarding future results, performance, achievements,
prospects or opportunities for the Company, the greenhouse
vegetable industry or the cannabis industry are forward-looking
statements. In some cases, forward-looking information can be
identified by such terms as "outlook", "may", "might", "will",
"could", "should", "would", "occur", "expect", "plan",
"anticipate", "believe", "intend", "try", "estimate", "predict",
"potential", "continue", "likely", "schedule", "objectives", or the
negative or grammatical variation thereof or other similar
expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. The
forward-looking statements in this press release are subject to
risks that may include, but are not limited to: our limited
operating history, including that of our Pure Sunfarms Corp. joint
venture for the production of cannabis in Canada (our "Joint Venture") and our start-up
operations of growing hemp in the United
States; the legal status of our Joint Venture; risks
relating to obtaining additional financing, including our
dependence upon credit facilities; potential difficulties in
achieving and/or maintaining profitability; variability of product
pricing; risks inherent in the cannabis, hemp and agricultural
businesses; the ability of our Joint Venture to cultivate and
distribute cannabis in Canada;
existing and new governmental regulations, including risks related
to regulatory compliance and licenses (e.g., our Joint Venture's
ability to obtain licenses for its Delta 2 greenhouse facility as
well as additional licenses under the Canadian Act Respecting
Cannabis To Amend to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the
Criminal Code and other Acts, S.C. 2018, c. 16 (Canada) for its Delta 3 greenhouse facility),
and changes in our regulatory requirements; risks relating to
conversion of our greenhouses to cannabis production for our Joint
Venture; risks related to rules and regulations at the U.S. federal
(Food and Drug Administration and United States Department of
Agriculture), state and municipal levels with respect to produce
and hemp; retail consolidation, technological advances and other
forms of competition; transportation disruptions; product liability
and other potential litigation; retention of key executives; labor
issues; uninsured and underinsured losses; vulnerability to rising
energy costs; environmental, health and safety risks, foreign
exchange exposure, risks associated with cross-border trade;
difficulties in managing our growth; restrictive covenants under
our credit facilities; natural catastrophes; the ongoing and
developing COVID-19 pandemic; and tax risks.
The Company has based these forward-looking statements on
factors and assumptions about future events and financial trends
that it believes may affect its financial condition, results of
operations, business strategy and financial needs. Although the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release are
based upon assumptions that management believes are reasonable
based on information currently available to management, there can
be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements necessarily
involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which
are beyond the Company's control, that may cause the Company's or
the industry's actual results, performance, achievements, prospects
and opportunities in future periods to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These
risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the factors
contained in the Company's filings with securities regulators,
including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, our
subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on
Form 8-K, each of which is available at www.sec.gov,
as well as our filings on SEDAR, available at www.sedar.com. In
particular, we caution you that our forward-looking statements are
subject to the ongoing and developing circumstances related to the
COVID-19 pandemic, which may have a material adverse effect on our
business, operations and future financial results.
When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions,
the Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on these
statements, as forward-looking statements involve significant risks
and uncertainties and should not be read as guarantees of future
results, performance, achievements, prospects and opportunities.
The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate
only to events or information as of the date on which the
statements are made in this press release. Except as required by
law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise
publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which
the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events.
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SOURCE Village Farms International, Inc.