Village Farms International, Inc. (“Village Farms” or “the
Company”) (NASDAQ: VFF) today announces it has increased its
ownership of Quebec-based Rose LifeScience Inc. (“Rose”) by 10% to
hold an 80% interest.
“Village Farms’ initial 70% acquisition of Rose
stands out as one of the most complementary business combinations
to date in the Canadian cannabis industry. Since late 2021, the
combination of the experienced teams at Rose and Pure Sunfarms have
driven Village Farms into the number two share rank nationally as
Rose sales grew more than 300% to reach the number two share rank
in Quebec, with each closing the gap to number one,” said Michael
DeGiglio, President and Chief Executive Officer, Village Farms.
"We have the opportunity to further grow our
business as part of Village Farms, while continuing to focus on and
support our home market in Quebec,” added Davide Zaffino,
co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rose.
The additional 10% of Rose was purchased from
Mr. Zaffino and Rose co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Brian
Stevenson. Each will continue in their current roles and, together,
continue to own 20% of Rose.
About Rose LifeScience
ROSE LifeScience is committed to ensuring that consumers benefit
from the responsible production, sale, and consumption of cannabis
in Québec and across Canada. From cannabis cultivation to
marketing, commercialization, and logistics, the Huntingdon, QC
company plays a key role in the Québec market. In addition to its
own products and expertise, ROSE provides specialized industry
services to selected producers to encourage a diversified offering
in the Québec and Canadian markets. Rose LifeScience is majority
owned by Village Farms International (Nasdaq: VFF) with the balance
owned and operated by its Québec-based founders. For more
information, visit roselifescience.ca.
About Village Farms International
Village Farms leverages decades of experience as
a large-scale, Controlled Environment Agriculture-based, vertically
integrated supplier for high-value, high-growth plant-based
Consumer Packaged Goods opportunities, with a strong foundation as
a leading fresh produce supplier to grocery and large-format
retailers throughout the US and Canada, and new high-growth
opportunities in the cannabis and CBD categories in North America,
the Netherlands and selected markets internationally.
In Canada, the Company's wholly-owned Canadian
subsidiary, Pure Sunfarms, is one of the single largest cannabis
operations in the world, the lowest-cost greenhouse producer and
one of Canada’s best-selling brands. The Company also owns 80% of
Québec-based, Rose LifeScience, a leading third-party cannabis
products commercialization expert in the Province of Québec.
In the US, wholly-owned Balanced Health
Botanicals is one of the leading CBD brands and e-commerce
platforms in the country. Subject to compliance with all applicable
US federal and state laws and stock exchange rules, Village Farms
plans to enter the US high-THC cannabis market via multiple
strategies, leveraging one of the largest greenhouse operations in
the country (more than 5.5 million square feet in West Texas), as
well as the operational and product expertise gained through Pure
Sunfarms' cannabis success in Canada.
Internationally, Village Farms is targeting
selected, nascent, legal cannabis and CBD opportunities with
significant medium- and long-term potential, with an initial focus
on the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
As used in this Press Release, the terms
“Village Farms”, “Village Farms International”, the “Company”,
“we”, “us”, “our” and similar references refer to Village Farms
International, Inc. and our consolidated subsidiaries, and the term
“Common Shares” refers to our common shares, no par value. Our
financial information is presented in U.S. dollars and all
references in this Press Release to “$” means U.S. dollars and all
references to “C$” means Canadian dollars.
This Press Release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the U.S.
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "Securities Act") and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
"Exchange Act"), and is subject to the safe harbor created by those
sections. This Press Release also contains "forward-looking
information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities
laws. We refer to such forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information collectively as "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, expansion plans, 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, the greenhouse vegetable or produce industry, the cannabis
industry and market and our energy segment are forward-looking
statements. In some cases, forward-looking information can be
identified by such terms as "can", "outlook", "may", "might",
"will", "could", "should", "would", "occur", "expect", "plan",
"anticipate", "believe", "intend", "try", "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. The
forward-looking statements in this Press Release are subject to
risks that may include, but are not limited to: our limited
operating history in the cannabis and cannabinoids industry,
including that of Pure Sunfarms, Inc. (“Pure Sunfarms”), Rose
LifeScience Inc. (“Rose” or “Rose LifeScience”) and Balanced Health
Botanicals, LLC (“Balanced Health”); the limited operational
history of the Delta RNG Project in our energy segment; the legal
status of the cannabis business of Pure Sunfarms and Rose and the
hemp business of Balanced Health and uncertainty regarding the
legality and regulatory status of cannabis in the United States;
risks relating to the integration of Balanced Health and Rose into
our consolidated business; risks relating to obtaining additional
financing on acceptable terms, including our dependence upon credit
facilities and dilutive transactions; potential difficulties in
achieving and/or maintaining profitability; variability of product
pricing; risks inherent in the cannabis, hemp, CBD, cannabinoids,
and agricultural businesses; our market position and competitive
position; our ability to leverage current business relationships
for future business involving hemp and cannabinoids; the ability of
Pure Sunfarms and Rose to cultivate and distribute cannabis in
Canada; existing and new governmental regulations, including risks
related to regulatory compliance and regarding obtaining and
maintaining licenses required under the Cannabis Act (Canada), the
Criminal Code and other Acts, S.C. 2018, C. 16 (Canada) for its
Canadian operational facilities, and changes in our regulatory
requirements; legal and operational risks relating to expected
conversion of our greenhouses to cannabis production in Canada and
in the United States; risks related to rules and regulations at the
U.S. Federal (Food and Drug Administration and United States
Department of Agriculture), state and municipal levels with respect
to produce and hemp, cannabidiol-based products commercialization;
retail consolidation, technological advances and other forms of
competition; transportation disruptions; product liability and
other potential litigation; retention of key executives; labor
issues; uninsured and underinsured losses; vulnerability to rising
energy costs; inflationary effects on costs of cultivation and
transportation; recessionary effects on demand of our products;
environmental, health and safety risks, foreign exchange exposure,
risks associated with cross-border trade; difficulties in managing
our growth; restrictive covenants under our credit facilities;
natural catastrophes; rising interest rates; and tax risks.
The Company has based these forward-looking
statements on factors and assumptions about future events and
financial trends that it believes may affect its financial
condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial
needs. 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,
which 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 this Press Release
and the Company’s most recently filed annual report on Form
10-K.
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
and opportunities. The forward-looking statements made in this
Press Release relate only 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
revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on
which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events.
Contact Information
Lawrence ChamberlainInvestor
RelationsLodeRock Advisors(416)
519-4196lawrence.chamberlain@loderockadvisors.com |
Village Farms (NASDAQ:VFF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2024 to Aug 2024
Village Farms (NASDAQ:VFF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2023 to Aug 2024