Village Farms International Announces Filing of Application to List its Common Shares on NASDAQ/Conversion of All Growing Area at Pure Sunfarms' 1.1 Million Square Foot Greenhouse Completed and Awaiting Health Canada Review
VANCOUVER, Jan. 21, 2019 /CNW/ - Village Farms International, Inc. ("Village Farms" or the "Company") (TSX:VFF) (OTCQX:VFFIF) today announced that it has filed an application to list its common shares on NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "VFF". Village Farms' common shares will continue to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), also under the symbol "VFF".
"As a company with substantive U.S. assets and operations and, with our recently announced intention to aggressively pursue potential opportunities in the now federally legal U.S. hemp and CBD industry, the listing of our common shares on NASDAQ is intended to provide broader exposure to, and greater liquidity for, U.S. investors," said Michael DeGiglio, Chief Executive Officer, Village Farms. "A NASDAQ listing will provide Village Farms with access to the largest equity market in the world to support our intended hemp and CBD growth strategy should U.S. state laws follow the U.S. federal decision to legalize hemp, as well as, potentially, for cannabis, in the event that it is federally legalized in the U.S."
In advance of its intended NASDAQ listing, Village Farms has filed a Form 40-F Registration Statement ("Form 40-F") with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Listing of the Company's common shares on NASDAQ remains subject to the approval of NASDAQ and the satisfaction of all applicable listing and regulatory requirements. The timing of such approval may be adversely impacted by any delay in the SEC's review of the Form 40-F and any delay in the effectiveness of the Form 40-F due to the ongoing partial government shutdown in the U.S.
Following receipt of all required approvals, the Company will issue a press release announcing its first trading date on NASDAQ. Upon commencement of trading of its common shares on NASDAQ, Village Farms intends to voluntarily delist its common shares from the OTCQX.
In conjunction with the listing on NASDAQ, Village Farms' common shares will become Direct Registration System (DRS) eligible for U.S. shareholders.
Conversion of All Growing Area at Pure Sunfarms 1.1 Million Square Foot Greenhouse Completed and Awaiting Health Canada Review
Village Farms also announced that its Canadian cannabis joint venture, Pure Sunfarms, has completed conversion of all of the growing area in the fourth and final quadrant of its 1.1 million square foot greenhouse facility in Delta, British Columbia. The fourth quadrant, totaling approximately 206,000 square feet of growing area, along with approximately 138,000 square feet of growing area in the third quadrant (conversion of which was completed in 2018), are currently under review by Health Canada in respect of amendment of Pure Sunfarms' cultivation license, which will, in aggregate, expand Pure Sunfarms' permitted production area by approximately 344,000 square feet to just over 1.03 million square feet, with the remaining approximately 69,000 square feet of the 1.1 million square foot facility currently in the process of being converted for extraction activities. Pure Sunfarms plans to put the approximately 344,000 square feet of greenhouse currently under review by Health Canada into production as soon as Health Canada's review is complete and its cultivation license is amended.
"It is a tremendous accomplishment to not only have completed conversion of more than 1 million square feet of greenhouse for cannabis production in just over a year but also to have simultaneously ramped up production while that conversion was ongoing, and I would like to acknowledge the Pure Sunfarms management team for their tireless efforts toward this achievement," said Mr. DeGiglio. "We continue to be very pleased with the performance of that part of the Pure Sunfarms' facility currently in production and look forward to further expanding production to the entirety of the 1.1 million square foot facility as soon as permitted."
Pure Sunfarms also continues to await Health Canada's review of its packaging license application. Upon receipt of its packaging license, Pure Sunfarms expects to commence sales directly to provincial government distributors as soon as possible. As it awaits its packaging license, Pure Sunfarms continues to make regular sales to other licensed produces at favourable spot market pricing amidst the continuing shortage of supply in the Canadian market.
About Village Farms International, Inc.
Village Farms International, Inc. is one of the largest and longest-operating vertically integrated greenhouse growers in North America and the only publicly traded greenhouse produce company in Canada. Village Farms produces and distributes fresh, premium-quality produce with consistency 365-days a year to national grocers in the U.S. and Canada from more than nine million square feet of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) greenhouses in British Columbia and Texas, as well as from its partner greenhouses in British Columbia, Ontario and Mexico. The Company is now leveraging its 30 years of experience as a vertically integrated grower for the rapidly emerging global cannabis opportunity through its 50% ownership of British Columbia-based Pure Sunfarms Corp., one of the single largest cannabis growing operations in the world. The Company also intends to pursue opportunities to become a vertically integrated leader in the U.S. hemp and CBD markets, subject to compliance with all applicable U.S. federal and state laws.
Cautionary Language
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements may relate to the Company's future outlook or financial position and anticipated events or results and may include statements regarding the financial position, business strategy, budgets, litigation, projected production, projected costs, capital expenditures, financial results, taxes, plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Particularly, statements regarding future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities for the Company, Pure Sunfarms, the greenhouse vegetable industry or the cannabis or hemp industry are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by such terms as "outlook", "may", "might", "will", "could", "should", "would", "occur", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue", "likely", "schedule", "objectives", or the negative or grammatical variation thereof or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Some of the specific forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Company's application to list its common shares on NASDAQ, the potential corresponding DRS eligibility of the Company's common shares for U.S. shareholders, U.S. federal and state legalization of hemp and the Company's potential new business opportunities related thereto.
Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon assumptions that management believes are reasonable based on information currently available to management, there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, that may cause the Company's or the industry's actual results, performance, achievements, prospects and opportunities in future periods to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the factors contained in the Company's filings with securities regulators, including as detailed in the Company's annual information form dated April 2, 2018 and management's discussion and analysis for the year-ended December 31, 2017 and for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2018.
When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, the Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on these statements, as forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties and should not be read as guarantees of future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities. The forward-looking statements made in this press release only relate to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or publicly revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE Village Farms International, Inc.
For further information: Lawrence Chamberlain, Investor Relations, (416) 519-4196, [email protected]
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