Cease Trade Order Issued by the Ontario Securities Commission

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TORONTO, June 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avicanna Inc. (the “Company” or “Avicanna”) (TSX: AVCN) announced today that it has been issued a Cease Trade Order (“CTO”) by the Ontario Securities Commission (the “OSC”) as it no longer expects to file the following periodic disclosure documents (collectively, the “Documents”) by June 11, 2021, as previously disclosed:

• audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020;
• management’s discussion and analysis relating to the audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020;
• annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2020;
• interim financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2021;
• management’s discussion and analysis relating to the interim financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2021; and
• certification of the foregoing filings as required by National Instrument 52-109 - Certification of Disclosure in Issuers’ Annual and Interim Filings.

The Company continues to operate normally and is working diligently with its auditors, MNP LLP, to be in a position to file its Documents on or before June 30, 2021.

Among other things, the CTO revokes the management cease trade order issued by the OSC on April 9, 2021 in respect to certain insiders of the Company, which prohibited those persons from trading in the Company’s securities until such time as the Documents are filed.

Despite the CTO, a beneficial security holder of the Company who is not, and was not at the date of the CTO, an insider or control person of the Company, may sell securities of the Issuer acquired before the date of the CTO if the sale is made through an investment dealer registered in a jurisdiction of Canada on a “foreign organized regulated market”, as defined in section 1.1 of the Universal Market Integrity Rules of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. Holders of Avicanna securities are urged to consult with their own investment advisors or legal counsel about the implications of the CTO.