Staff
This is your Daily Hit of cannabis financial news for January 6, 2020.
The Daily Hit took a break during the holidays, but it is back as the news ramps up in the new year.
On The Site
Supreme Cannabis
The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. (TSX: FIRE) (OTCQX: SPRWF) announced that its Board of Directors has named Colin Moore, Director of the Company and former President of Starbucks Coffee Canada, as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Moore succeeds Navdeep Dhaliwal, who has departed the Company.
Supreme recent reported a drop in its revenue from the 2019 fourth quarter amount of $19 million to the 2020 first quarter amount of $11.4 million. The quarter-over-quarter decrease in net revenue was attributed to the combination of a rapid deterioration of pricing and demand in the wholesale market and the previously announced 7ACRES mechanical failure in grow rooms 1, 2 and 3. The company called this “an isolated one-time event with all three grow rooms recommissioned and replanted in September 2019.”
Emerald Health
Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. (TSXV: EMH)(OTCQX: EMHTF) has agreed to the second tranche of funding for the company for approximately $4.5 million. At the end of December, the company closed on the initial tranche of a private placement that was announced on December 16, 2019. The initial tranche was for gross proceeds of $1.5 million issued at a price of $0.29 per unit.
The second tranche was also issued at a price of 29 cents per share. The company was lately trading at roughly 25 cents per share. The private placement is set to purchase 10,344,827 units of Emerald for total gross proceeds of $3 million. The company said that these units will represent the remainder of the financing previously announced on December 16, 2019, however, the securities to be issued under the Offering will be offered by way of a shelf prospectus supplement to be filed in all of the provinces of Canada pursuant to National Instrument 44-102 – Shelf Distributions and will not be subject to a hold period.
High Times
Hightimes Holding Corp. told investors that it accepted the resignation of Kraig G. Fox as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and President Effective December 24, 2019. On January 6, 2020, Stormy Simon, one of the Company’s independent directors and former President of Overstock.com Inc., was appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the company by the board of directors. Following her appointment, she will also continue serving as a director on the Company’s board of directors.
The change is happening as the cannabis publication prepares to develop its physical and virtual distribution businesses. Having spent the last year acquiring Cannabis media publications and web sites, High Times now looks to monetize its audience of millions of users across the globe. Fox was just hired in April with the intent to finally bring the company public, a move that has been discussed for years at this point. Instead, the launch of the publicly traded stock got delayed again.
Psychedelics
The world is hurting right now, and many are feeling the pain of a planet in destruction. We’re dealing with climate change (and climate change denial), forest fires are ravaging homes and destroying nature around the world, and we all know that Mother Nature sure likes to toss a giant natural disaster in there from time to time. Humans have both lost control of and lost touch with their natural environment.
It’s time to get back to nature, and psychedelics may be what get us there.
Researchers in London, UK, investigated the association between psychedelic use and a concept they termed “nature relatedness,” or one’s level of self-identification and subjective sense of connectedness with nature.
In Other News
Tokyo Smoke
Tokyo Smoke, Canopy Growth Corporation’s (TSX: WEED) (NYSE: CGC) award-winning retail brand, is proud to announce that it will be working with a total of ten recently-announced Ontario retail license holders to open new Tokyo Smoke branded retail cannabis stores across the province.
“With ten new stores set to open in the first half of this year, we are pleased with the momentum we’ve built and excited to bring the Tokyo Smoke experience to more Ontarians,” said Rade Kovacevic, President, Canopy Growth. “Increasing Tokyo Smoke’s presence across the province will expand access to high-quality cannabis products and education, continuing to migrate cannabis sales from the illicit to the regulated market.”
Once licensed, this will bring the number of Tokyo Smoke branded retail cannabis stores in Ontario to a total of 12, joining Tokyo Smoke 333 Yonge at Dundas Square in Toronto, and Tokyo Smoke Oshawa.
Slang Worldwide
SLANG Worldwide Inc. (CNSX: SLNG) announced that it is expanding into the Ohio medical cannabis market by the entering into of a licensing agreement with Standard Wellness Company, LLC. Standard Wellness has been granted an exclusive license to produce and distribute the SLANG product suite in Ohio, beginning with its category-leading O.penVAPE, Pressies, Bakked and District Edibles brands. SLANG will derive revenue for each branded product sold in the state, with sales expected to commence in 2020.
Viola
Ericka Pittman officially joining Viola as their new CMO. The new c-suite appointment marks the first African American female CMO of a multi-state cannabis operator.Prior to her move with Viola, she served as CMO at AQUAhydrate and as a leading executive at Combs Enterprises.
