Akanda to Acquire Portugal-based Holigen, Securing a Cannabis Sector Leadership Position in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with EU GMP Market Access - Seite 3

“Holigen is a transformative building block in our mission to help people lead better lives through improved access to high quality and affordable cannabis products,” said Tej Virk, Chief Executive Officer of Akanda. “Together with Holigen, we will become the clear leader in current and emerging markets in Europe for both medical and eventually adult use customers. Portugal is one of the EU’s leading jurisdictions to conduct cannabis business with a forward-looking government, in addition to a responsive regulator. The government has been actively discussing the advancement of legalization of adult-use cannabis and Akanda is dedicated to our presence in the country as the landscape continues to evolve. This acquisition materially accelerates our strategy and financials, and positions us to create significant, sustainable value.”

Virk added, “We are leveraging our recent Initial Public Offering to secure state-of-the-art GMP-certified facilities that have been the recipient of nearly US$16 million of investment over the past several years. There are also powerful strategic synergies with our first-party/third-party operating model and assets in Africa and the UK, including the immediate opportunity to supply the growing number of European patients that are seeking access to these high-quality cultivars.”

Added Louisa Mojela, Executive Chairman of Akanda, “With this acquisition, Akanda will gain the substantial knowledge and skills of the Holigen team, which has extensive experience in the U.S. west coast and which has overseen the buildout of one of the most advanced indoor grows in the world in Portugal. The cross-pollination of this expertise will help Akanda deliver on our promise of manufacturing high quality, scalable and affordable medical cannabis at our Bophelo campus and our footprint for our ESG initiatives. We expect to leverage this expertise for emerging market opportunities in Lesotho, Africa.”

“The combination of Akanda and Holigen is an ideal synergistic opportunity for Holigen,” added Flow. “With outstanding agricultural resources in both hemispheres, we can optimize production year-round, which is truly unique. And the exceptional cultivation talent the combined organization will have will enable us to innovate with unique genetic strains. Finally, this combination creates a more vertically integrated operation, with significant underused grow, processing, and distribution capacity, allowing us to control the value chain, expand revenue sources and capture market share.”