Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
CannaRoyalty Corp. (CRZ-CN) says it’s buying FloraCal Farms, a licensed “ultra-premium” craft cannabis producer in California for about 3.5 million CannaRoyalty shares and up to US$4-million. The deal includes US$1-million in cash and 3.5 million shares on closing and an additional US$3-million in cash and 3.5 million shares to be paid over three years, based on completion of certain milestones, the company stated in a release.
“FloraCal adds branded premium cannabis flower and pre-roll products to CannaRoyalty’s diverse portfolio,” the company said. It said the transaction replaces the strategic partnership between FloraCal and CannaRoyalty, announced on Feb. 15, 2018.
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Just Energy Group Inc. (JE-N; JE-T) says it has renegotiated an agreement with a syndicate of lenders that extends its credit facility for an additional two years to Sept. 1, 2020. The facility size was increased to $352.5-million from $342.5-million, with an accordion for Just Energy to draw up to $370-million.
“The successful renegotiation of our credit facility under favorable, extended terms further validates our Company’s strong business model and long-term outlook,” said Pat McCullough, CEO of Just Energy. “The credit facility reflects strong lender confidence in Just Energy and provides the company with increased financial flexibility to support our global growth strategy.”
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Hiku Brands Company Ltd. (HIKU-CN) and WeedMD Inc. (WMD-X) say they plan to merge to create “a unique and market differentiating vertically integrated company.”
If the deal is done, existing Hiku and WeedMD shareholders will own approximately 51.75 per cent and 48.25 per cent of the combined company on a fully-diluted basis.
WeedMD shareholders will receive 1.4185 Hiku common shares in exchange for each WeedMD common share, representing the equivalent of $2.52 per WeedMD Share and a premium of 60 per cent based on the closing prices of Hiku shares on April 18. In addition, each outstanding option and warrant to purchase a WeedMD Share will be exchanged for an option or warrant, as applicable, to purchase a Hiku Share, based upon the exchange ratio.
The deal needs approval from two-thirds of WeedMD shareholders. If approved, the shares would list on the TSX Venture Exchange.
“The combination of Hiku and WeedMD creates a premium cannabis brand house with fully vertically integrated operations, an expanding network of retail stores, a growing medical business and four scalable cannabis production facilities, two of which are currently licensed,” the companies stated. “The entity combines Hiku’s strength in retail and branding – ensuring a high quality, consistent and educational consumer experience in the adult-use cannabis market – with WeedMD’s existing service and quality in the medical market.”
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Delta 9 Cannabis Inc. (NINE-X) says it has entered into a limited partnership agreement with Westleaf Cannabis Inc. and Delta West Inc. for the joint development of a large-scale cannabis production facility in southern Alberta.
Delta 9 and Westleaf each own a 50-per-cent interest in the project and will each initially contribute $3-million to the limited partnership, to be used together with debt financing, for initial development, the company said.
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ICC Labs Inc. (ICC-X) says one of its Uruguayan subsidiaries has entered into a letter of intent with Eurofarma Uruguay S.A., a member of the Eurofarma group of companies, a Brazilian-owned multinational pharmaceutical enterprise.
The parties have agreed to negotiate definitive commercial agreements that see Eurofarma blend, bottle and package various products derived from ICC Labs’ CBD [cannabidiol] extractions that will be used for medicinal purposes.
“We believe that this relationship will enable us to benefit from Eurofarma’s depth of pharmaceutical experience and market expertise while providing Eurofarma with exposure to cannabinoid products,” said ICC Labs CEO Alejandro Antalich.
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Baylin Technologies Inc. (BYL-T) says its subsidiary, Advantech Wireless Technologies Inc., has received more than $1-million in orders of its Sapphireblue Series 1,250W Ku-Band UltraLinear Gallium Nitride (GaN) based solid state Power Amplifier (SSPA) System from satellite broadcasting customers.
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EnWave Corp. (ENW-X) says its NutraDried Food Company, LLC subsidiary has received a second purchase order for its Moon Cheese snack product from Costco Wholesale Corp.’s Pacific Northwest division after the initial rotation launch at the beginning of April 2018.
“The recent repeat purchase orders from Costco’s Pacific Northwest division along with the Midwest division demonstrates the success of club format packaging of Moon Cheese in the Costco system,” the company stated. “NutraDried will continue to pursue expanded distribution with Costco through both additional repeat orders and potential expansion into other Costco divisions. Each Costco purchase order represents significant revenue growth for NutraDried.”
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Namaste Technologies Inc. (N-CN) says it has received conditional approval to list on the TSX Venture Exchange, subject to certain requirements.
“The company will proceed expeditiously to satisfy these conditions and management is confident that all conditions for listing will be met,” it stated in a release.
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Diversified Royalty Corp. (DIV-T) announced preliminary results for its Mr. Lube, Air Miles and Sutton brands for the three months ended March 31.
It said the Mr. Lube Canada Limited Partnership generated same-store-sales-growth (SSSG) of 4.5 per cent for the Mr. Lube stores in the royalty pool for the first quarter of 2018, compared to 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2017. “Mr. Lube’s SSSG was driven by continued strong store-level execution and expansion of the tire business. In addition, Mr. Lube has opened three new locations in the past five months,” the company said.
DIV said it expects to report total royalty income and management fees of $3.3-million generated from Mr. Lube in the first quarter of 2018, an increase of $100,000 from the same period year earlier.
With Air Miles, reward miles issued decreased by 1 per cent in the first quarter “and is trending to growth over the remainder of 2018,” the company said, citing Alliance Data Systems Inc. DIV expects to report that royalty income of $1.73-million was generated from the Air Miles licenses in the first quarter of 2018.
The unaudited first quarter results for Sutton Group Realty Services Ltd. were in line with expectations, the company said. DIV expects to report that royalty income and management fees of $1-million were generated from Sutton in the first quarter of 2018, representing a 2-per-cent increase over the first quarter of 2017.