Debra Borchardt
Tilt Holdings Inc. (CSE: TILT) (OTCQB: TLLTF) reported a decline in revenue to $40.4 million for the second quarter of 2020, which was a drop of 12% from the prior-year period. The net loss was $4.6 million versus a net loss of $9 million in the previous quarter. The company also told investors that it sold its technology platform Blackbird.
“In the third quarter we saw sequential growth across our core Jupiter and plant-touching operations reflecting our diversified position within the growing U.S. cannabis industry,” said Mark Scatterday, CEO of Tilt. “We also reported record adjusted EBITDA that was positive for the third consecutive quarter, a result of our actions to right-size the business while strengthening our platform to scale as a preferred B2B partner to the cannabis industry.”
Sells Blackbird
When TILT first came together as a disparate group of companies, investors had a hard time understanding how all the pieces would fit. Management spent an inordinate amount of time explaining how these pieces would be synergistic. Now it seems, Tilt is going to focus on its biggest member of the family Jupiter, the vape company and is getting out of the tech platform business. Tilt announced that its subsidiary Baker Technologies, Inc. had agreed to sell Yaris Acquisition, LLC known as Blackbird to Slam Dunk, LLC, a Nevada limited liability corporation controlled by Tim Conder, TILT’s Chief Operating Officer and a member of the board of directors of the company. The company said the total valuation of the deal was $15 million and selling Blackbird results in a cut of $3 million in expenses quarterly.
“We continue to believe that the Blackbird platform offers a comprehensive technology solution capable of bringing cannabis brands, retailers, and consumers together on a single platform,” said Gary Santo, President of TILT. “Unfortunately, the marketplace for such solutions is fragmented and hyper-competitive with multiple players offering disparate systems at irrational prices and creating headwinds for sustained profitability.”
“Blackbird is effectively a start-up company contributing 4% to our revenue year-to-date while requiring additional capital and resources in order to achieve scale,” continued Santo. “Given the growth potential within Jupiter and our cannabis operations, we believe the opportunity costs associated with continuing to invest in the platform are not in our shareholder’s best interests. Upon closing, we expect this transaction to significantly improve profitability and free up cash flow that can be redeployed to grow our core businesses, while the proposed structure will allow TILT to participate in Blackbird’s future success.”
Focus On Jupiter
Following the vape crisis, Jupiter struggled, but it seems to have recovered and Tilt has decided to focus its efforts here. Scatterday said on the company’s earnings call, “In the third quarter, Jupiter returned to generating positive top-line growth and with its lean centralized and highly productive operating footprint, it continues to be a steady positive cash flow engine for TILT. Momentum picked up throughout the quarter as order patterns returned to normal and large customers continued to increase their order size. In September, we shipped the record number of total cartridges. Our disposable product category is still being impacted by the effects of COVID, where tourist centric markets like Nevada are still feeling the effects.”
