Sativa Wellness Group plc (TSX / AQSE:SWEL) CEO Henry Lees-Buckley joins DirectorsTalk in this video interview to discuss the merger of Sativa Group and StillCanna for form Sativa Wellness Group, a true seed to consumer company. Henry explains what the new combined company looks like now, how with the UK FSA Novel Foods process being implemented shortly this will affect the company, traction its Goodbody brand is gaining and capabilities to white or private label products and sell raw CBD ingredients.
Sativa Wellness, has announced that trading of its shares consisting of 302,592,941 Common Shares of no par value will commence trading at 8.00 a.m. today on the AQSE Growth Market, with ISIN number CA80403E1043.
The Company will be dual-listed on both the Canadian Securities Exchange and the AQSE growth Market. The Company also expects to be quoted on the over-the-counter (the “OTC”) market in the United States and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (the “FSE”) shortly.
On 18 August 2020, Sativa Group plc announced that its shareholders had voted in favour of a special resolution to approve the implementation of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act for the merger with Stillcanna Inc. The approved Scheme of Arrangement, became effective on 24 September 2020, and on 30 September 2020 trading of the combined entity, Sativa Wellness, on the Canadian Securities Exchange, commenced under the same ticker “SWEL”.
Detailed information on the company can be found in both the Scheme of Arrangement circular dated 22 July 2020 and the Stillcanna Management Information Circular dated 28 July 2020.
Sativa is focused on developing consumer products under the core “Goodbody” brand. The Goodbody brands are available online and in a growing number of retailers across the UK, all with the commitment of “CBD you can Trust”. The plan is to extend the Goodbody brands and product ranges into new markets throughout continental Europe.
Goodbody Botanicals offers a wide range of CBD products including gels, balms, capsules, tinctures, gummies and more. The Goodbody Botanicals brand is available at the “goodbodystore.com” and in hundreds of pharmacies and leading retailers across the UK, such as WH Smith.
The Goodbody Wellness brand is focused on delivering premium products such as its signature “Orange and Lemon flavored CBD with Vitamin D”. This brand is also available online at the “goodbodystore.com” and is targeting health and beauty markets as well as high end retailers.
We continue to expand our product offerings in alignment with consumer demand, building the range of products on offer. Additional Goodbody product lines such as Goodbody sanitizer and Goodbody Hemp have also been launched and compliment the core CBD product offerings.
As a fully vertically-integrated company, Sativa not only manufactures its own core products but also offers white label private manufacturing and branding services for customers in the UK and Europe. The Company not only supplies the raw CBD isolate and distillate ingredients, but also provides the formulation, bottling and testing services to other CBD companies across Europe.
Cultivation and Extraction Capabilities
Sativa’s primary agricultural, cultivation and extraction business is based in Poland, and is called Olimax. Olimax is responsible for the Company’s agricultural initiatives including biomass partnerships throughout Europe. It is responsible for the operation of the Company’s state of the art ethanol extraction facility in Poland providing high quality CBD products to meet internal needs and importantly providing the key ingredients to third party customers. The Olimax extraction facility is designed to process over 400,000 kilos of CBD rich hemp biomass annually. The Olimax facility produces both THC free CBD isolate and distillate for the global marketplace and is fully operational and in production today.
Additionally, a wholly owned subsidiary, Borganic Consulting Inc., recently built a modern extraction facility in Romania with a joint venture partner Dragonfly Biosciences of London (“Dragonfly”). The facility is now fully licensed and is capable of processing over 400,000 kilos of CBD rich biomass annually. Borganic served notice of termination of its joint venture with Dragonfly on August 17, 2020 as a result of a contract dispute with Dragonfly. The Company anticipates the issues will be resolved over the coming months and will provide a further update once available.
Testing Laboratories
PhytoVista Laboratories (“PVL“) is Sativa’s independent analytical hemp and CBD testing facility. PVL provides laboratory support to retailers, distributors and manufacturers by expertly testing the cannabinoid levels of the hemp and CBD products. PVL is one of the UK’s most trusted laboratories operating to GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) and ISO 17025 standards, with the aim of being fully ISO accredited in 2020. 90% of the revenue of this laboratory is generated by external customers with the balance from internal product testing.
The Olimax facility in Poland also has a modern laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment and trained scientists. This laboratory is currently used for internal product testing, but it is envisaged that this would also become an external customer focused laboratory alongside the UK PhytoVista team.
General
In addition to the commercial operating activities, a wholly owned subsidiary “Sativa Cultivation and Extraction Ltd” holds a Controlled Drug License for the cultivation, production and possession of high THC content cannabis in the UK for medical research as part of the Company’s partnership agreement with King’s College London to research the impact of cannabinoids on inflammation and respiratory conditions.
The new group is led by Henry Lees-Buckley, as Chief Executive Officer and Director. Mr. Lees-Buckley is a seasoned corporate executive with extensive experience leading companies in the private and public markets. Mr. Lees-Buckley was previously the CEO of Uni-Select, a Canadian TSX quoted company with operations in the UK, Canada and the USA. Prior to Uni-Select, Mr. Lees-Buckley was a senior global executive and officer of W.W. Grainger a 15 billion dollar Fortune 500 company. Mr. Lees-Buckley is currently a non-Executive director of Building Materials Corp (NASDAQ:BMCH) a company with annual sales of USD3.8 billion. Henry holds an MBA from Queens University in Kingston Ontario and has functioned as a senior executive in multiple global corporations.
Jason Dassault, the Company’s previous CEO, will remain with the Company going forward as a director. Mr. Dussault will lead the Company’s investor relations and marketing activities.
The Company is strictly focused on the European market and the primary offices are located at:
The Blue Building, Stubbs Lane, Beckington, Somerset UK, BA11 6TE
01373 486595
The Company’s investor relations and marketing office is in Vancouver, British Columbia.
