NORTHERN Leaf has agreed a £3.7m merger with Scottish CBD agency Voyager in a transfer the Jersey-based medicinal hashish producer hopes will guarantee its “survival”.
The merger represents a vital deal for the corporate, which beforehand warned shareholders that – if the merger was not accomplished in time – its board of administrators had “no selection however to think about ceasing buying and selling with impact quick”.
In paperwork despatched to shareholders in search of their consent for the merger and seen by the JEP, Northern Leaf mentioned this was as a result of there would have been “no life like prospect of avoiding a extremely bancrupt liquidation”.
The corporate, which is now valued at £3.7m, invested £30m in constructing a 100,000 sq-ft cultivation and processing plant, in line with experiences final yr.
Late final yr, the corporate sought to drift independently on the London Inventory Trade with an preliminary public providing (IPO), however did not safe enough curiosity. The merger is, in impact, a plan B path to a inventory market itemizing.
On the time, the corporate was understood to be valued at round £40 million.
Northern Leaf chairman Frank Walker beforehand mentioned the corporate was going through “difficult occasions”.
The merger is predicted to see the group's possession expanded to incorporate current Voyager shareholders (20.8%), Northern Leaf shareholders (51.5%) and new traders (27.7%).
In an announcement launched yesterday, Mr Walker mentioned: “After an amazing quantity of exhausting work behind the scenes by the administration group, I’m more than happy that, topic to formal shareholder approval, we will now start the merger fundraising course of to safe the funding wanted to make sure Northern Leaf's survival and the chance to develop the potential of the enterprise.”
The corporate's chief government, Geoff Eyre, added: “This merger with Voyager will fulfill our long-standing dedication to deliver Northern Leaf to listed markets and supply liquidity for our shareholders.”
He continued: “We’ve been impressed by the breadth of Voyager's operations and the combination of the 2 corporations supplies quite a few alternatives for every of us to speed up our improvement. Frank and I look ahead to becoming a member of Voyager's board and taking the expanded group to a market management place of the hashish business within the British Isles.
