Halo Collective Inc. (“Halo”) (NEO: HALO) (OTCQX: HCANF) (Germany: A9KN) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bophelo Bioscience & Wellness (Pty) Ltd. (“Bophelo”), has signed a processing and distribution agreement with Cantourage GmbH, (“Cantourage”) one of Europe’s leading providers of medical cannabis. With this agreement, Bophelo has secured a path to market to the rapidly growing European medical cannabis market for products cultivated at its current 5-hectare campus with future expansion of 200 hectare in the Kingdom of Lesotho in Southern Africa. Bophelo plans to export cannabis starting material to Cantourage for processing into certified medical cannabis products with the first EU sales targeted for 2022.
Bophelo’s agreement with Cantourage is the latest step forward in Halo’s initiative to reorganize its international assets (the “International Reorganization”) into an ethically-sourced company called Akanda Corp. (“Akanda”), which is underpinned by trusted brands. Bophelo achieved Good Agriculture and Collection Practice (“GACP”) in August 2021. Over the coming quarters, Akanda plans to leverage Bophelo to ramp production volumes from its grow scalable campus situated in the Mafeteng Special Economic Zone (‘SEZ’) for destination to Europe. The European market is expected to reach $3.8 billion in annual sales by 20251.
“We are moving quickly to establish a presence in Europe for our high-quality medical cannabis products, and working with the seasoned industry veterans of Cantourage enables us to navigate the European regulatory system and reach patients promptly and cost-effectively,” commented Tej Virk, CEO, Co-Founder and Director of Akanda. “We are most excited about bringing some of the award-winning brands including DNA Genetics dried flower to the UK and broader European market. CanMart in the UK is a fully licensed strategic manufacturing and fulfillment center positioned to import, distribute and export EU GMP medical cannabis products. Cantourage is the ideal partner, well-known for providing cultivators Fast Track Access to the European medical cannabis market, which requires stringent EU GMP quality standards.”
“By partnering with Akanda and Bophelo, Cantourage intends to provide doctors and patients with greater choice of therapy options and cultivars,” commented Philip Schetter, CEO of Cantourage. “In addition, we will be able to offer products which were grown in a sustainable and eco-friendly way thanks to their admirable business practices and Lesotho’s climate conditions, which are excellent for the cultivation of medical cannabis.”
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| 1 | https://prohibitionpartners.com/2021/04/09/key-insights-from-the-european-cannabis-report-6th-edition/ |
Founded in 2019, Berlin-based Cantourage has established itself as one of the leading European companies in the medical cannabis sector, helping producers access the European market without having to deal with complex and lengthy regulatory processes. Cantourage is led by the same team that founded Pedanios GmbH in 2015, one of the first federally licensed companies in Germany to specialize in the importation and distribution of medical cannabis. Within less than a year, Pedanios was the dominant leader in the market for medical cannabis flower, and the company was subsequently acquired by Aurora Cannabis Inc in 2017. The team is now continuing to shape the medical cannabis market in Europe with Cantourage.
According to Prohibition Partners, the value of the European cannabis market is expected to grow from over $475 million by the end of 2021 to reach $3.8 billion in 2025. This makes Europe the world’s third largest cannabis market behind the U.S. and Canada.
Completion of Halo’s International Reorganization remains subject to the entering into definitive documentation, the approval of the Halo board of directors and the receipt of all required regulatory approvals. There can be no certainty that the International Reorganization will be completed on the terms described in this press release or at all.
