/NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED
STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED
STATES WIRE SERVICES/
TORONTO, Feb. 7, 2019 /CNW/ - As announced this morning,
Lift & Co. Corp. ("Lift & Co." or the "Company") (TSXV:
LIFT) is pleased to report that the Alcohol and Gaming Commission
of Ontario ("AGCO") has approved
the Company's retail training program, CannSell, as the sole
mandatory training certification in Ontario ("Ontario Program") on a multi-year
commitment. Pursuant to the Cannabis License Act and Ontario
Regulation 468/18, all Ontario
cannabis retail employees, holders of retail store authorizations
and holders of cannabis retail manager licences must be CannSell
certified prior to legally working in the Province's cannabis
retail stores, which are slated to open for business on
April 1, 2019. Lift & Co. will be
hosting an investor call to discuss the significance of this
milestone.
"Without a doubt, launching the AGCO-approved CannSell as the
only approved mandatory retail certification program in the
Province is a major milestone in our company's continued growth,"
said Matei Olaru, CEO of Lift &
Co. "CannSell is a validation of Lift & Co. strategically
identifying the retail opportunity years ago and successively
executing against it better than any competitor. We are committed
to continuing to build-out our first-mover advantage in this new
consumer packaged goods industry by educating the biggest point of
influence in this industry's value chain."
The approval of CannSell has the following benefits to Lift
& Co. and its shareholders:
- Ownership of the only approved and mandatory retail training
program in Canada's largest
addressable retail market for several years;
- A crystalized leadership position as the leading cannabis
retailer and retail employee education educator in Canada;
- Guaranteed 100 per cent market penetration for several years
into cannabis retailers and retail employees, empirically
supported¹ to be a key stakeholder driving consumer purchase
decisions;
- Against a recent backdrop of poor governance across Canadian
cannabis businesses, establishes a competitive differentiator of
Canada-wide consumer, industry and
regulator trust in the Lift & Co. brand and company
In a recent interview, the Ontario government stated that upwards of
1,000 retail stores are anticipated to sell cannabis in the years
to come². Cannabis retail employees in Ontario are expected by the Company to service
an estimated ~2.0 million³ current cannabis consumers who are over
the age of 19, and an additional ~1.3 million⁴ cannabis
"considerers" with their cannabis purchase decision. Ontario's cannabis market is estimated to grow
from $930 million CAD in 2019, to
$3.3 billion CAD in 2022⁵, which
directly coincides with Ontario's retail market expansion that
will help erode Ontario's illegal
market.
Currently, it is estimated that Ontario cannabis consumer spends approximately
$40/month⁶ on legal cannabis goods,
which has the potential to double over the next three years as the
consumers increasingly transition from the illegal market. As
further outlined by Deloitte, "current cannabis consumers are
expected to move nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of their
purchases to legal channels, whether through bricks-and-mortar
retailers or online channels"⁷. Lift & Co.'s CannSell is
ideally positioned to facilitate this transfer and help eliminate
the illegal market, one of the key objectives of legalization.
Lift & Co. will be hosting an investor conference call to
discuss the implications of this monumental achievement, using the
below dial-in instructions:
Conference Call Details:
Date: Thursday, February 7th,
2019
Time: 1:00 P.M. EST (10:00 A.M. PST)
Participant Dial-in Numbers:
Local: 1 (416)
764-8688
Toll Free: 1 (888) 390-0546
Conference I.D.: 77116021
Recording Playback Numbers:
Local: 1 (416)
764-8677
Toll Free: 1 (888) 390-0541
Passcode: 116021 #
Expiry Date: Thursday, February 14,
2019 11:59 PM
Please connect at least 15 minutes prior to the conference call
to ensure time for any software download that may be needed to hear
the webcast.
Sources:
1: CannabisTech, 2018
2: CTV News, September 2018
3: Statistics Canada: National
Cannabis Survey, 2nd Quarter 2018, Canada 2016 Census, Management
Calculations
4: CBC, 2015, Canada 2016 Census,
Management Calculations
5: Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Legalized Cannabis:
Fiscal Considerations, Policy options: What will the cannabis
market look like in Ontario?,
Management Calculations
6: Policy options: What will the cannabis market look like in
Ontario?, Management
Calculations
7: Deloitte, A society in transition, an industry ready to bloom,
2018 cannabis report
About Lift & Co.
Lift & Co. (TSXV: LIFT) is a
publicly-traded technology company modernizing the cannabis
industry.
Forward-looking statements
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important
factors that could cause actual results, performance or
achievements to differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause
results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated,
estimated or intended.
There can be no assurance that such forward-looking
statements will prove to be accurate or that management's
expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or
results will materialize. Accordingly, readers should not place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking
statements in this news release are made as of the date of this
release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to
update or revise such information, except as required by applicable
law, and the Company does not assume any liability for disclosure
relating to any other company mentioned herein.
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @liftandco
SOURCE Lift & Co. Corp.