A $20m dispute between two British companies over a Romanian CBD processing facility has been resolved.
In September last year it emerged that London firm Dragonfly Biosciences and Sativa Wellness Group – formerly Stillcanna – were heading to the UK High Court.
The dispute centred on a $2m facility which had been completed earlier that year in Southern Romania as part of a joint venture arrangement.
BusinessCann understands the initial arrangement saw 100% Stillcanna-owned entity Borganic Consulting agree to build the facility which would process hemp biomass grown in Bulgaria by Dragonfly.
The facility was due to be completed in early 2019, but was not completed until the following year.
In April 2020, Canadian Securities Exchange-listed Stillcanna was subject to a reverse takeover by Sativa Wellness – which, like Dragonfly has prominent position in the UK consumer CBD market.
Sativa Boardroom Shake-Up
Geremy Thomas who took over as interim CEO of Sativa Wellness in early February, this year, told BusinessCann the dispute had now been settled.
He said: “The reverse takeover with Stillcanna gave us access to two investments in Eastern Europe, one was a half-share in the Romanian plant (at the centre of dispute) the second was a facility in Poland.
“We have put the money into the Polish facility where production has been ramped-up and we are supplying ourselves and others.
“The Dragonfly dispute was a distraction and we are pleased to have seen that resolved.”
Regan Saveall, CEO at Dragonfly Biosciences, said: “Its been a long drawn-out dispute and we are pleased it has now been resolved.
“We had expected to have the facility complete in 2019 and we were disappointed that it took a year longer than planned and even more disappointed to see it end up in court proceedings.
“Stillcanna had the extraction expertise and we were due to deliver the biomass, however it never turned out as planned.
“Nevertheless, we are delighted to have reached a settlement and the facility is now wholly-owned by us – significantly boosting our production capacities.”
Dragonfly has acquired full ownership of the plant, which trades as Premium Extraction Services and is capable of producing one tonne of CBD isolates and distillates per month.
In January, this year, father and son Geremy Thomas and George Thomas were appointed directors of Sativa Wellness, with Mr Thomas senior later appointed as Executive Chairman.
In addition to this Executive Chairman role Mr Thomas will act as the interim CEO until a new CEO is appointed. The Thomas family owns 30% of Sativa’s shares.
Previous CEO Henry Lees-Buckley left the business on February 3, 2021. Sativa Wellness is also listed on London’s AQSE Market.
