Canopy Rivers' Flagship PharmHouse JV Licensed By Health Canada
TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN GLOBAL PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION PLATFORM NOW OPERATIONAL
TORONTO, July 22, 2019 /CNW/ - Canopy Rivers Inc. ("Canopy Rivers" or the "Company") (TSXV: RIV) (OTC: CNPOF) is pleased to announce that its 49%-owned joint venture, PharmHouse Inc. ("PharmHouse"), has received a cultivation licence from Health Canada. PharmHouse will be immediately commencing operations in 190,000 sq. ft. of licensed nursery infrastructure and plans to ramp up the entire 1.3 million sq. ft. ultramodern greenhouse before the end of 2019 to deliver low-cost and high-quality cannabis and cannabis derivative products to the Canopy Rivers ecosystem of partners, both domestically and internationally.
"This is a significant corporate milestone for Canopy Rivers. We believe the PharmHouse platform to be the epitome of value creation for our shareholders, and exposure to this project represents an investment opportunity only available through Canopy Rivers," said Narbe Alexandrian, President and CEO of Canopy Rivers. "Together with the expertise of agriculture industry titan Paul Mastronardi, along with our team of ag-specialist joint venture partners, Canopy Rivers has helped finance, construct, and prepare for licence one of the largest, state-of-the-art cannabis facilities in the world, and has already backed it with multi-year contracts with internationally -focused industry leaders that we expect will translate into significant cash flow and profitability," continued Alexandrian.
Founded by Canopy Rivers and the principals and operators (the "Joint Venture Partners") of North American agriculture and produce conglomerate Mastronardi Produce Limited, PharmHouse is a newly -built 1.3 million sq. ft facility located in Leamington, Ontario. Its transformative approach to production integrates a high degree of automation, lean manufacturing processes, and commercial agricultural best practices. The result is a large-scale greenhouse operationally optimized for commercial -scale, low -cost cannabis production that is designed to comply with Good Manufacturing Practices. Through the Joint Venture Partners, PharmHouse has access to plant science, automation, and logistical expertise that has been developed over multiple generations by a continental leader and garnered recognition and support from some of the largest retailers and wholesalers throughout Canada and the United States.
PharmHouse has already entered into commercial offtake agreements for a combined 50% of its 2020 production with industry leaders Canopy Growth Corp (TSX: WEED, NYSE: CGC) and TerrAscend Corp (CSE: TER, OTCQX: TRSSF), validating the Canopy Rivers ecosystem model and supporting the international brand and distribution platforms of the Company and its partners.
"This licence is a monumental achievement for PharmHouse, a joint venture that I believe represents the future of cannabis production, distribution, and technological innovation," said Paul Mastronardi, CEO of Mastronardi Produce Limited and, in his personal capacity, the largest individual shareholder in the PharmHouse joint venture. "We look forward to continuing to lend our proven operational, marketing, and distribution expertise to PharmHouse, and collaborating with Canopy Rivers to continue building our planned global cannabis platform."
Paul Mastronardi and the Joint Venture Partners bring significant thought leadership and insight to the cannabis industry, drawing on their successful experience as innovators, marketers, and distributors of greenhouse -grown vegetables for more than 60 years. With a focus on new technologies and sustainable cultivation practices, they have become one of the largest greenhouse operators in the world and have experience managing more than 4,000 productive acres of agriculture operations under both an owned/operated and contract manufacturing basis throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, and more.
"Our focus on capacity, innovation, and speed to market has been a competitive advantage of PharmHouse since our company's inception just over a year ago," said Tony Abbas, General Manager of PharmHouse. "With the project fully funded and licence now in hand, our strong and focused team intends to continue our rapid progress and ramp up towards full operations in the coming months. We believe that we are well on our way to establishing PharmHouse as a premier large-scale, low-cost, cannabis production and global distribution platform," continued Abbas.
About Canopy Rivers:
Canopy Rivers is a unique investment and operating platform structured to pursue investment opportunities in the emerging global cannabis sector. Canopy Rivers works collaboratively with Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX: WEED, NYSE: CGC) to identify strategic counterparties seeking financial and/or operating support. Canopy Rivers has developed an investment ecosystem of complementary cannabis operating companies that represent various segments of the value chain across the emerging cannabis sector. As the portfolio continues to develop, constituents will be provided with opportunities to work with Canopy Growth and collaborate among themselves, which Canopy Rivers believes will maximize value for its shareholders and foster an environment of innovation, synergy and value creation for the entire ecosystem.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of Canopy Rivers with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" or similar expressions and includes information regarding: the timing of PharmHouse's operations; PharmHouse's ability to cultivate and distribute low-cost, high-quality cannabis on a global scale; the ramp up of the entire PharmHouse facility; PharmHouse's cash flow and profitability; PharmHouse's continued progress and pace of progress; PharmHouse's production capability; the effect of plant science on the scale of the growth operations; the Joint Venture Partner lending its operational, marketing, and distribution expertise; the favourable positioning of the PharmHouse platform to replicate its process around the globe; the relationship between Canopy Rivers and the Joint Venture Partner and their plan to pursue opportunities on a global scale; and other expectations for economic, business and/or competitive factors.
Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflects management's expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although Canopy Rivers believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of Canopy Rivers. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: regulatory and licensing risks; PharmHouse's actual financial performance, product and brand development, production and capacity; the ability of PharmHouse to obtain cultivation licences under applicable legislation in Canada for the rest of the facility; the ability of the Joint Venture Partner and Canopy Rivers to collaborate; the level of involvement of the Joint Venture Partner, competition for global, regulated cannabis opportunities; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; the global regulatory landscape and enforcement related to cannabis, including political risks and risks relating to regulatory change; risks relating to anti-money laundering laws; compliance with extensive government regulation; public opinion and perception of the cannabis industry; and the risk factors set out in Canopy Rivers' final short form prospectus dated February 21, 2019, filed with Canadian securities regulators and available on Canopy Rivers' profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Canopy Rivers has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Canopy Rivers does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information except as otherwise required by applicable law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Canopy Rivers Inc.
For further information: Canopy Rivers Inc., Karoline Hunter, Sr. Director, Investor Relations & Communications, E-mail: [email protected]
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