After securing a $220 million deal with British American Tobacco, Moncton-based Organigram’s CEO Greg Engel is stepping away from his CEO role, but will stay on as a special advisor to the company.

A rough year for revenue

While no reason was given for the exit, Organigram’s net revenue tumbled from $26.9 in the first full quarter of adult-use operations to a mere $14.6 million for the same period a year later, according to Marijuana Business Daily. They also note that the company had lower wholesale revenue and had lowered prices.

“Engel did have some success at the company, which largely avoided the costly mistakes made by some of its larger rivals, including massive losses stemming from overinvestments in cultivation facilities in Canada and overseas,” adds MJ Biz.

Not Engel’s first rodeo

Engel left the pharmaceutical industry in 2015 to take the helm at Tilray — incidentally now part of the purported “largest cannabis company” in the world, now that shareholders of both Tilray and Aphria have approved it. 

At the time, he wrote a post for Huffington Post outlining why he was making the switch, which focused on Canada’s opportunity to improve the lives and health of people with medical cannabis. But his tenure was brief, lasting just one year and six months before he quietly exited the company “to pursue other opportunities,” according to a statement submitted to New Cannabis Ventures. According to his LinkedIn, he consulted for nine months before being recruited by Organigram, where he stayed for just over four years.

Peter Amirault will lead the company as executive chair while the board searches for a new CEO.