Affinor Growers Inc. - British Columbia Securities Commission ("BCSC") Temporary Order Update
Listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol ("AFI")
VANCOUVER , Jan. 17, 2019 /CNW/ - Affinor Growers Inc. ("AFI" or the "Company") (CSE: AFI, OTC: RSSFF, Frankfurt:1AF) provides an update on the BCSC temporary order issued on November 26, 2018 (the "Temporary Order") by the Executive Director of the BCSC. The Temporary Order prevented the Company from making a distribution of securities to a consultant using the exemption from prospectus requirements, contained in Section 2.24 of National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions (the "Consultant Exemption"). On December 7, 2018, a hearing was held to extend the Temporary Order in which the Company was named as a respondent, by virtue of being 1 of the 11 named issuers that entered into consulting agreements with certain other members listed in the group of respondents (the "Consultants") for services ranging from accounting and finance to marketing. The Consultants were participants in the $3.99M financing completed in March 2018.
On January 15, 2019, the BCSC issued a panel decision on the application to extend the Temporary Order considered at the December 7, 2018 hearing, which stated that the Temporary Order issued against the Company would not be extended due to the evidence, at this time, not meeting the legal threshold required to demonstrate that the Company engaged in conduct contrary to the public interest. The BCSC continues to investigate the matters that gave rise to the Temporary Order, which includes allegations of inappropriate use of the Consultant Exemption (the "BCSC Investigation"). The panel's decision relates only to the evidence and application before the panel at the time of the December 7, 2018 hearing, and as such, future findings regarding any alleged violation of securities law or conduct contrary to the public interest may be different. The next scheduled panel hearing, as it relates to the BCSC Investigation, is slated for April 9, 2019.
The complete text of the panel decision can be found at:
https://www.bcsc.bc.ca/Enforcement/Decisions/PDF/2019_BCSECCOM_14/
Message from the CEO
"It was unfortunate the Company was named in this Temporary Order and it has definitely had a negative impact on the Company's reputation. I understand many of the Company's shareholders have been waiting for AFI to make a statement in regards to this issue. Before making any statement, I wanted to take time to gain additional information from the BCSC to understand the scope of the temporary order before providing any update. To this end, I personally attended the December 7th, 2018 BCSC temporary order extension hearing in order to gain a better understanding of the BCSC investigation. Since the hearing, the Company has been cooperating with the BCSC, and will continue to do so until the BCSC Investigation has concluded.
I expect it will be some time before this is fully resolved, however, not having the Temporary Order extended is a good first step for AFI. I will continue to update the shareholders on any new developments as they become available.
While the BCSC continues its investigation, the Chairman and I continue to work diligently to move the Company forward, bring value to our shareholders and more importantly, advance the technology to commercialization. I understand the past year has seen many ups and downs along with many changes within the organization. I have personally spoken to several shareholders and they have expressed their frustration with the lack of advancement with the AFI technology and the lack of a Company showcase for the technology. We are currently working on putting together an updated business plan to address these issues as well as many other issues that have been communicated to me by shareholders and other stakeholders.
I look forward to providing the shareholders of AFI a more detailed corporate update about our progress to date and future plans in the near future."
Randy Minhas
President and CEO
About Affinor Growers
Affinor Growers is a publicly traded company on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol ("AFI"). Affinor is focused on growing high quality crops such as romaine lettuce, spinach, strawberries using its vertical farming techniques. Affinor is committed to becoming a pre-eminent supplier of vertical farming technology.
Neither Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release may contain assumptions, estimates, and other forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are subject to factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
AFFINOR GROWERS INC.
www.affinorgrowers.com
SOURCE Affinor Growers Inc.
AFFINOR GROWERS, Unit 200 - 8661 201 Street, Langley, BC, Canada, V2Y 0G9, Phone: (604) 546 - 7452, Website: www.affinorgrowers.com
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