TORONTO and LOS ANGELES, Nov. 7, 2019 /CNW/ - Canopy
Growth Corporation ("Canopy Growth" or the "Company") (TSX: WEED)
(NYSE: CGC) and Aubrey Drake Graham
("Drake") are pleased to announce that
they have entered into agreements to launch the More Life
Growth CompanyTM, a fully licensed producer of cannabis
based in Drake's hometown of Toronto,
Canada.
"When we first began talks with Drake we were extremely inspired
by and aligned with his vision to bring best-in-class cannabis
products to the world," said Mark
Zekulin, CEO, Canopy Growth Corporation. "Drake's
perspective as a culture leader and entrepreneur combined with
Canopy Growth's breadth of cannabis knowledge will allow our new
company to bring an unmatched cannabis experience to global
markets."
Drake's eclectic career includes experience across a wide
variety of industries including music, television, film, fashion,
sports, brand development, content curation and social and digital
media strategy. Having launched numerous successful brands over the
past decade, he is uniquely positioned to bring his innovative eye
to the recreational cannabis industry.
"The opportunity to partner with a world-class company like
Canopy Growth on a global scale is really exciting," shared More
Life Growth Company founder, Drake. "The idea of being able to
build something special in an industry that is ever growing has
been inspiring. More Life and More Blessing."
Proudly based in Drake's hometown of Toronto, More LifeTM is
centred around wellness, discovery and overall personal growth with
the hope of facilitating connections and shared experiences across
the globe.
"All in all, we couldn't be more excited to partner with Drake
to bring his vision for the More Life Growth Company to global
cannabis markets," concluded Mr. Zekulin. "We anticipate a long,
successful, and mutually beneficial working relationship."
The Company and Drake will share further details on the More
LifeTM team and vision in the weeks to come.
Transaction Details
In connection with the launch of the More Life brand, a
previously wholly-owned subsidiary (the "More Life Growth
Company") of Canopy Growth, has issued shares to certain
entities that are controlled by Drake ("Drake"). Following
the issuance of the shares, Drake holds a 60% ownership interest in
the More Life Growth Company, with Canopy Growth retaining a 40%
ownership.
The More Life Growth Company is the beneficial owner of an
entity licensed by Health Canada for the cultivation, processing
and sale of cannabis at its production facility in Scarborough, Ontario (the "More Life
Facility"). Canopy Growth will continue to provide all of the
day-to-day operations and maintenance of the More Life Facility and
will retain all of the rights to distribute the product that is
cultivated at the More Life Facility.
As consideration for the issuance of the shares of the More Life
Growth Company, Drake has granted More Life Growth Company the
right to exclusively exploit certain intellectual property and
brands in association with the growth, manufacture, production,
marketing and sale of cannabis and cannabis-related products,
accessories, merchandise and paraphernalia in Canada and internationally. The maintenance of
the non-Canada rights after 18
months is contingent upon certain performance criteria of the More
Life Growth Company being met. The More Life Growth Company has
sublicensed such rights in Canada
to Canopy Growth in exchange for payments to be made by the Company
on the sale of More LifeTM products, providing Canopy
Growth with the exclusive rights to distribute More
LifeTM products in Canada. In addition, Canopy Growth has the
option to extend the terms and conditions of the sublicense into
all international jurisdictions.
Canopy Growth and Drake have entered into a shareholders
agreement, investor rights agreements, and various other ancillary
agreements to govern the operations of the More Life Growth
Company. In connection with these arrangements, Canopy Growth has
the right to nominate two directors to the board of the More Life
Growth Company as well as a pre-emptive right to maintain its
ownership interest in the More Life Growth Company.
Advisors
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
acted as legal counsel to Canopy Growth and Reed Smith LLP acted as
legal counsel to Drake in connection with the transaction.
Here's to Future (More Life) Growth.
About Canopy Growth Corporation
Canopy Growth
(TSX:WEED, NYSE:CGC) is a world-leading diversified cannabis, hemp
and cannabis device company, offering distinct brands and curated
cannabis varieties in dried, oil and Softgel capsule forms, as well
as medical devices through Canopy Growth's subsidiary, Storz &
Bickel GMbH & Co. KG. From product and process innovation to
market execution, Canopy Growth is driven by a passion for
leadership and a commitment to building a world-class cannabis
company one product, site and country at a time. Canopy Growth has
operations in over a dozen countries across five continents.
Canopy Growth's medical division, Spectrum Therapeutics is
proudly dedicated to educating healthcare practitioners, conducting
robust clinical research, and furthering the public's understanding
of cannabis, and has devoted millions of dollars toward cutting
edge, commercializable research and IP development. Spectrum
Therapeutics sells a range of full-spectrum products using its
colour-coded classification Spectrum system as well as single
cannabinoid Dronabinol under the brand Bionorica Ethics.
Canopy Growth operates retail stores across Canada under its award-winning Tweed and Tokyo
Smoke banners. Tweed is a globally recognized cannabis brand which
has built a large and loyal following by focusing on quality
products and meaningful customer relationships.
From our historic public listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange
and New York Stock Exchange to our continued international
expansion, pride in advancing shareholder value through leadership
is engrained in all we do at Canopy Growth. Canopy Growth has
established partnerships with leading sector names including
cannabis icons Snoop Dogg and Seth
Rogen, breeding legends DNA Genetics and Green House Seeds,
and Fortune 500 alcohol leader Constellation Brands, to name but a
few. Canopy Growth operates eleven licensed cannabis production
sites with over 10.5 million square feet of production capacity,
including over one million square feet of GMP certified production
space. For more information visit www.canopygrowth.com
Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news
release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable
Canadian securities legislation. Often, but not always,
forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the
use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is
expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not
anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases
or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could",
"would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.
Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements of Canopy Growth or its
subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements or information contained in this news
release. Examples of such statements include, among others,
statements with respect to the ability of the Company and the More
Life Growth Company to bring cannabis products to global markets;
and the products that the More Life Growth Company will be offering
the adult use market in Canada.
Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with
forward-looking information could cause actual events, results,
performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information,
including the Company's ability to bring cannabis products to
global markets; the timing and availability of the Company's
products in the adult-use market in Canada; the timing and completion of a
go-public transaction for the More Life Growth Company; risks
related to the production, processing and sale of
cannabis; and such risks contained in the Company's annual
information form dated June 25, 2019
and filed with Canadian securities regulators available on the
Company's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the
Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing
the forward-looking information or forward-looking statements in
this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be
placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such
events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The
forward-looking information and forward-looking statements included
in this news release are made as of the date of this news release
and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update
such forward-looking information or forward-looking information to
reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise,
unless required by applicable securities laws.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/canadian-icons-come-together-canopy-growth-and-drake-launch-new-cannabis-wellness-company-300953763.html
SOURCE Canopy Growth Corporation