GB, it is now, great news today
2017-12-21 01:35 ET - News Release
Mr. Chuck Rifici reports
CANNABIS WHEATON INCOME CORP. ANNOUNCES NEW JOINT VENTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF WORLD'S LARGEST INDOOR CANNABIS FACILITY WITH LICENSED PRODUCER PARTNER FV PHARMA INC.
Cannabis Wheaton Income Corp. (doing business as Wheaton Income) has entered into a letter of intent with FV Pharma Inc., a licensed producer pursuant to the ACMPR (Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations) having received its cultivation licence on Oct. 13, 2017. Under the terms of the agreement, the company will develop all aspects of FV's cannabis cultivation facility in mutually agreed staged phases, creating the largest indoor cannabis cultivation and processing facility in the world.
The FV Pharma state-of-the-art facility hosts an existing 620,000 square feet of building space and is famously known as the former Kraft food manufacturing facility. The facility is ideally situated only one hour east of Toronto in Cobourg, Ont., off of the 401 Highway and has access by car or rail to Ottawa and Montreal.
The facility rests on 70 acres of land, 32 of which have been utilized for the current building with the remaining 40 acres available for the staged-phased facility development. Upon completion of the facility development, FV expects to achieve a total of approximately 3.8 million square feet dedicated to cannabis cultivation and related ancillary businesses all under one roof making it the largest indoor cannabis cultivation facility in the world. The facility has an electrical substation on site, natural gas lines, multiple water intakes, rail lines directly into the facility and 26 loading docks, thereby providing the robust infrastructure necessary to accommodate FV Pharma's expansion plans.
Wheaton and FV plan to utilize the facility to supply Canada's current medical and future recreational market for cannabis with a vision to offer mass quantities of dried cannabis, cannabis oils and, when legally permitted, food-grade cannabis edibles, all subject to FV Pharma receiving the necessary licences.
Pursuant to the agreement, the company will receive a 49.9-per-cent stream of all cannabis (or cannabis-derived products, including any immature cannabis plants and any cannabis trim) produced at the facility, under partnership with Wheaton, in perpetuity. The company estimates that the Wheaton allocation will result in approximately 200 million grams of cannabis for the company's benefit per annum upon completion of all phases of the facility development. In exchange for the Wheaton allocation, using its unique expertise and experience, the company's management team will assist FV Pharma with all aspects of the design, development, financing, buildout and operations of the facility, as well as the marketing, branding and distribution of the cannabis and cannabis-derived products generated by the facility.
As part of the arrangement, the company will also participate in the governance of FV Pharma by having one company nominee appointed to the board of directors of FV Pharma.
Chuck Rifici, chairman and chief executive officer of Wheaton Income, stated: "This marks a very exciting moment for Cannabis Wheaton. The joint venture with FV Pharma provides us access to the one of the most unique and the largest indoor cannabis facilities on the planet. The Kraft facility project is highly reminiscent of my early days at Tweed (now Canopy Growth), where I had the privilege of converting that company's first major production asset, the old Hershey factory in Smiths Falls, Ont., into something new and exciting. This is the same scenario but on a much larger scale and in perhaps the most ideal location in Canada, in close proximity to the largest addressable market in the country.
"When completed, this massive facility will not only create a tremendous amount of supply for the recreational Canadian market, but it will also create hundreds of jobs for the city of Coburg similar to what we accomplished in Smiths Falls. We are thrilled to be working alongside the FV Pharma team and can't wait to get started on creating value and growth through best industry practices at a scale that will truly redefine the definition of world-class in this sector."
"We are delighted to partner with Cannabis Wheaton to develop our cultivation operations in our world-class facility," said Thomas Fairfull, president and chief executive officer of FV Pharma. "There are very few people in the industry that have the experience to convert a large-scale food grade facility into a cannabis cultivation facility. Chuck Rifici, Brad McNamee and some members of their team were part of Tweed's (now Canopy Growth) repurposing of the former Hershey facility in Smiths Falls, Ont., and that is the closest comparison we could find for us, which led to the beginning of this partnership."
The transaction remains subject to certain conditions precedent, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, including Health Canada approval and the execution of a definitive agreement, which the parties expect to occur within 45 days.