Cresco Pharma is to acquire 100 per cent of Health House International (HHI) under a non-binding term sheet agreement.
Switzerland-based Medical cannabis product developer, Cresco Pharma, has said that the $4.6m (~£3.76m) acquisition of international medical cannabis distributor, Health House, will unlock a number of new markets for the company across the UK, Europe and Australia.
The acquisition is subject to Creso completing satisfactory due diligence on Health House’s businesses.
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Group CEO and managing director of Cresco Pharma, William Lay, said: “The proposed acquisition of Health House has a number of potential benefits for Creso Pharma.
“Subject to a formal Scheme Implementation Deed being executed, implementation of the scheme would result in Creso Pharma significantly strengthening its global distribution capabilities and unlocking a number of new markets across the UK, Europe and Australia.
“The company intends to undertake due diligence on Health House’s operations immediately and explore the potential to leverage the group’s existing relationships for Creso Pharma’s own product ranges.
“Further, the company will investigate other potential opportunities including HHI’s existing EU-GMP product manufacturing capabilities and how these can further benefit Mernova, SSH and Creso Switzerland as we push to establish a presence in Europe and the UK.
“We look forward to progressing work towards implementation of the Scheme and will provide ongoing updates as due diligence requirements are met and additional opportunities materialise.”
The news follows the failed merger between Health House and Zelira Therapeutics Limited. The proposed acquisition was terminated due to a “substantial change in market conditions since the scheme was originally announced”.
Health House currently has supply agreements in place with several pharmaceutical grade GMP-certified manufacturers and producers of medicinal cannabis products, and also owns a medicinal cannabis consultancy in the EU.
The company is currently supporting a non-interventional study in Germany, launched by another Health House group company, that considers the effect on quality of life of patients and the safety and tolerability of cannabis medication.
Recently, Health House announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary CanPharma GmbH has continued its strategy to enter into preferred supplier agreements with German statutory health insurance (SHI) funds, securing agreements with five funds to date.
CanPharma’s latest agreement with Techniker Krankenkasse, the largest German statutory health insurance fund represents more than 10 million insured individuals, bringing the total number of patients that SHI funds cover, with preferred supplier agreements with CanPharma, to over 35 million, representing almost 50 per cent of the total number of insured Germans.
Creso Pharma has stated that the proposed acquisition of Health House would create a global organisation with strong medicinal cannabis production and distribution capabilities, as well as a growing revenue profile. However, it emphasises that, until due diligence is completed and a binding Scheme Implementation Deed is executed by the parties, there is no certainty that the acquisition of Health House will proceed.
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