Debra Borchardt
Irwin Naturals Inc. (CSE: IWIN) (OTC: IWINF) reported that it had secured a credit facility as of February 1, 2023, with its existing commercial lender for up to $60 million with $40 million of it currently committed. Irwin Naturals said this money will help it to accelerate its roll-up and be a significant player in the world of psychedelic mental health clinics.
Klee Irwin, CEO of Irwin Naturals, said, “Commercial banks are less speculative and more practical than other lenders. Accordingly, a low-interest line of credit from our commercial bank is a vote of confidence from conservative business thinkers. And this is not just a vote of confidence in our business model. It is an endorsement of management’s ability to execute and continue leading within the mental health care sector.”
The company noted that the rate on the funds will be variably based on the margins of the credit facilities. The company statement said that half of the facility is in place until August 2024, with a maturity date of February 2028, while the other half is designed to support day-to-day operations and is in place until February 2028.
“This financing is transformational for the Company,” said Adam Berk, President of Irwin Naturals. “It accelerates Irwin Naturals’ ability to expand our national psychedelic mental health clinic footprint and supercharge the velocity of closings of deals in a large M&A pipeline. We believe low-cost debt financing at this stage of our expansion will be optimally accretive and minimally dilutive for our shareholders.”
Sean Sand, CFO of Irwin Naturals, added, “It is a pleasure for us to partner with our existing commercial lender. It makes our already bullish outlook even stronger with respect to our ability to grow our chain of psychedelic mental health clinics.”
Irwin Naturals moved into psychedelic mental healthcare earlier this year, announcing its plan to build a national chain of clinics under the umbrella of Irwin Naturals Emergence. It has vetted more than 600 independent ketamine clinics currently operating in the United States, seeking to identify profitable operations with patient care standards that meet the standards of the Irwin Naturals brand.
Irwin Naturals Emergence recently announced its LOI to acquire Braxia Scientific Corp, a medical research company providing psychiatric, innovative ketamine, and psilocybin treatments for mental health disorders. The potential combined business creates a new market leader with operations in multiple markets in the US and in Canada with a total of 22 clinics under the control of the two entities, or under an agreement to complete an acquisition.
The company said in a statement that by operating at a national scale, it would allow it to offer increased efficiencies, such as the ability to purchase treatment drugs and services in bulk. “Economies of scale will drive down operating costs, savings that can be passed on to patients by providing sliding-scale discounts.”
