ONE of the UK’s first market-listed medical cannabis and CBD companies has been sold to Canadian producer Stillcanna for over £10m.
Following months of talks Vancouver-based Stillcanna announced late yesterday (GMT) the multi-million pound deal had completed.
Sativa Group, formerly known as Sativa Investments, was listed on the junior NEX exchange – now the AQSE Growth Market – in March 2018.
Sativa was established as a medical cannabis investment vehicle with the aim of investing primarily in Canadian cannabis companies.
Change Of Heart
However, following the faster-than-expected legalisation of medical cannabis in the UK in November 2018, Sativa changed its name and its strategy to focus on British operations.
It now has a spread of business interests across the CBD wellness and medical cannabis space, comprising five operating subsidiaries.
Stillcanna is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange possessing large-scale growing, manufacturing and wholesale/white-label operations in Poland.
In a market release Jason Dussault, CEO of Stillcanna, said: “Trust is the most important commodity a brand must procure and maintain to be successful, this is especially crucial in a nascent sector such as CBD wellness.
“The merger of the Sativa Group and Stillcanna will secure this commodity through the stewardship of this special cannabinoid from seed through to cultivation and extraction, and now testing, bottling and distribution.”
Henry Lees-Buckley, CEO of the Sativa Group, said: “We are very excited about the combination of the Sativa Group and Stillcanna. This creates a true European ‘seed to consumer’ CBD wellness and medicinal cannabis group; cultivating and extracting the highest quality CBD, through to developing and producing the highest quality finished consumer products.
“This integrated approach supported by optimised production capabilities and laboratory testing allows us to position our brands for strong sales growth not only in the UK but across Europe”.
Over 100 UK High Street Stores
Sativa’s businesses include CBD brand Goodbody Botanicals, and in 2019, it announced plans to open over 100 Goodbody Wellness high-street stores in the UK.
Tessellate Collective is a direct-selling network marketing platform servicing consumers at home. Phytovista laboratories provides independent CBD product testing.
Sativa Grow holds a Controlled Drug licence and cultivates cannabis plants to fulfil its partnership agreement for researchers at King’s College London.
Stillcanna announced its intent to purchase Sativa in April, with a closing date for completion of the deal set out for yesterday, June 3. The deal comprises of a share for share exchange with a value of £10,409,022.
Novel Food Application
The market release added: “Sativa’s and Stillcanna’s beliefs and visions for the cannabis industry are aligned, and both companies feel strongly that only a fully integrated seed to consumer business will have the pricing, products, and stability to meet the cannabis market demand in the medium term.”
Stillcanna went on to say its Polish facilities will be capable of processing up to 100,000 kilos of premium organic hemp annually.
Both companies feel strongly that only a fully integrated seed to consumer business will have the pricing, products, and stability to meet the cannabis market demand in the medium term.
Sativa Group and Stillcanna
It also said it had begun its UK Novel Food Application and is ‘ready to submit its active ingredients for both stability and toxicology tests’.
Stillcanna currently works as exclusive extractor for UK CBD business Dragonfly Biosciences.
The new Stillcanna board will be made up of six directors, including five from Sativa. Henry Lees-Buckley is CEO, with Stillcanna’s sole representative, current CEO Jason Dussault.
