Acreage Holdings, Inc. (“Acreage”or “Company”) (CSE: ACRG.A.U, ACRG.B.U), (OTC: ACRHF, ACRDF) is pleased to announce that Peter Caldini has been appointed as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. He officially joins Acreage on Monday, December 21st.
Peter brings an ideal mix of capabilities and experience to Acreage, having served in several senior leadership positions at major healthcare and consumer packaged goods (“CPG”) companies in the US and globally. Earning a reputation as a strong and seasoned leader, Mr. Caldini has a proven track record of improving operational efficiencies, strengthening brand equity, and creating shareholder value.
Mr. Caldini served as President Pfizer North America Consumer Healthcare as well as Regional President Consumer Healthcare of EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) during his time with the company. Prior to Pfizer, Mr. Caldini held similar senior leadership positions in other global markets, including China and Europe, while at Bayer Consumer Health and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Caldini started his career in brand management at Unilever, where he held various roles with increasing responsibility.
Mr. Caldini also brings extensive cannabis capital markets expertise to Acreage, having served for the past 18 months as the Chief Executive Officer of Bespoke Capital Acquisition Corp. (“Bespoke”), a Special Purpose Acquisition Corporation. As the CEO of Bespoke, he helped raise $360 million on the Toronto Stock Exchange with the focus to acquire high growth cannabis companies in the US and around the globe. Additionally, Mr. Caldini has served for the past year as a Senior Advisor to Tuatara Capital, L.P., a cannabis-focused private equity fund.
“Acreage is a leader in perhaps the most exciting emerging market opportunity of our lifetime, and I am beyond excited to join the company and help position it for long-term growth and profitability,” said Peter Caldini. “I look forward to guiding Acreage to a clear leadership position in the largest cannabis market in the world, utilizing the company’s proven award-winning brands combined with Canopy Growth’s brands and intellectual property.”
“I am pleased that Peter Caldini is taking the leadership reins at Acreage,” said Kevin Murphy, Acreage Founder and Chairman of the Board. “Cannabis is in the early innings of development, and the winning organizations will be those led by executives with a strong track record of success in highly regulated industries, particularly in CPG and healthcare. As Acreage’s largest shareholder, I could not be more confident that the future of Acreage is indeed in great hands with Peter.”
Acreage Board member and Interim CEO William Van Faasen said: “Delivering on our refocused strategy, which we embarked on this summer, has put us on a clear path to profitability. Peter is uniquely qualified to lead Acreage to that important milestone and well beyond. The Board and I have every confidence that the combination of Peter’s deep expertise, the support of our incredible team, and the portfolio of Canopy Growth’s IP puts us in a great position to deliver long-term shareholder value.”
The appointment of Peter Caldini follows a thorough recruitment process overseen by a special Hiring Committee of the Board that was chaired by Board member Douglas Maine. The Committee used the global recruitment company Heidrick & Struggles.
“We met with and vetted many viable candidates for what we believe is among the most attractive positions in cannabis, but it was clear from the moment we met Peter that he was the right executive for the job. We are thrilled to welcome him to Acreage,” said Douglas Maine.
ABOUT ACREAGE HOLDINGS, INC.
Headquartered in New York City, Acreage is a multi-state operator of cannabis cultivation and retailing facilities in the U.S., including the company’s national retail store brand, The Botanist. Acreage’s wide range of national and regionally available cannabis products include the award-winning The Botanist brand, the highly recognizable Tweed brand, the Prime medical brand in Pennsylvania, the Innocent edibles brand in Illinois and others. Acreage also owns Universal Hemp, LLC, a hemp subsidiary dedicated to the distribution, marketing and sale of CBD products throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 2011, Acreage has focused on building and scaling operations to create a seamless, consumer-focused, branded experience. More information is available at www.acreageholdings.com.
On June 27, 2019, Acreage implemented an arrangement under section 288 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) with Canopy Growth Corporation (“Canopy Growth”), which was subsequently amended on September 23, 2020 (the “Amended Arrangement”). Pursuant to the Amended Arrangement, upon the occurrence (or waiver by Canopy Growth) of changes in federal laws in the United States to permit the general cultivation, distribution and possession of marijuana (as defined in the relevant legislation) or to remove the regulation of such activities from the federal laws of the United States (the “Triggering Event”), Canopy Growth will, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain closing conditions, acquire all of the issued and outstanding Class E subordinate voting shares (the “Fixed Shares”) on the basis of 0.3048 of a Canopy Growth share per Fixed Share (following the automatic conversion of the Class F multiple voting shares and subject to adjustment in accordance with the terms of the arrangement agreement entered into between Acreage and Canopy Growth on April 18, 2019, as amended on May 15, 2019 and on September 23, 2020).
In addition, Canopy Growth holds an option, exercisable at the discretion of Canopy Growth, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding Class D subordinate voting shares (the “Floating Shares”) at the time that Canopy Growth acquires the Fixed Shares, for cash or Canopy Growth shares, as Canopy Growth may determine, at a price per Floating Share based upon the 30-day volume-weighted average trading price of the Floating Shares on the CSE relative to the trading price of the Canopy Growth shares at the time of the occurrence or waiver of the Triggering Event, subject to a minimum price of US$6.41 per Floating Share.
For more information about the Amended Arrangement please see the Acreage proxy statement and management information circular dated August 17, 2020 (the “Circular”) and the respective information circulars of each of Acreage and Canopy Growth dated May 17, 2019, which are available on Acreage’s and Canopy Growth’s respective profiles on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and filed with the SEC on the EDGAR website at www.sec.gov. For additional information regarding Canopy Growth, please see Canopy Growth’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
