Acreage Holdings, Inc. (“Acreage” or the “Company”) (CSE: ACRG.U) (OTCQX: ACRGF) (FSE: 0VZ) today announced that the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (“CCC”) has granted the Company provisional licenses for the retail sale of adult-use cannabis in Worcester and Shrewsbury. Acreage will add adult-use retail sales to its existing The Botanist dispensary in Worcester, MA, which opened as a medical marijuana treatment center in 2018, and it will open a new The Botanist dispensary in Shrewsbury, MA. The CCC voted to grant the provisional licenses at its monthly meeting earlier today.
Acreage anticipates beginning retail sales at both locations as quickly as possible following further regulatory inspections and approvals. The Worcester dispensary is located at 65 Pullman Street, Worcester, MA. The Shrewsbury dispensary will be located at 235 Hartford Turnpike, Shrewsbury, MA. The company’s third The Botanist dispensary in Massachusetts is located in the Town of Leominster.
Once all approvals are completed and the dispensaries are fully operational, Acreage anticipates adding more than 40 new jobs in Massachusetts.
Separately at today’s CCC meeting, the commissioners approved a stipulated agreement in which Acreage has agreed to make a $250,000 payment to the Cannabis Control Commission Regulation Fund. The payment is related to previously terminated Management Services Agreements.
With today’s actions, Acreage looks forward to completing the licensing process and bringing the Commonwealth’s citizens its full House of Brands product portfolio, including its TheBotanist, Live Resin and Tweed brands, the latter being a Canopy Growth brand that Acreage introduced in the U.S. last year.
ABOUT ACREAGE
Headquartered in New York City, Acreage is a vertically integrated, multi-state operator of cannabis licenses and assets in the U.S. Acreage is dedicated to building and scaling operations to create a seamless, consumer-focused branded cannabis experience. Acreage debuted its national retail store brand, The Botanist, in 2018 and its award-winning consumer brands, The Botanist and Live Resin Project in 2019.
On June 27, 2019, Acreage implemented an arrangement under section 288 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the “Current Arrangement”) with Canopy Growth Corporation (“Canopy Growth”) pursuant to an arrangement agreement dated April 18, 2019, as amended on May 15, 2019 (the “Arrangement Agreement”). On June 24, 2020, Canopy Growth and Acreage entered into an agreement (the “Proposal Agreement”) proposing to amend certain the terms of the Current Arrangement and the Arrangement Agreement (collectively, the “New Arrangement”). Pursuant to the Current Arrangement, upon the occurrence of changes to federal laws in the United States to permit the general cultivation, distribution and possession of marijuana or to remove the regulation of such activities from the federal laws of the United States (the “Triggering Event”) (or waiver of the Triggering Event by Canopy Growth), Canopy Growth will, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain closing conditions, acquire (the “Acquisition”) each of Acreage’s class A subordinate voting shares (the “Subordinate Voting Shares”) (following the automatic conversion of the Class B proportionate voting shares (“Proportionate Voting Shares”) and Class C multiple voting shares (the “Multiple Voting Shares”) into Subordinate Voting Shares) on the basis of 0.5818 of a common share of Canopy Growth (each whole share, a “Canopy Growth Share”) per Subordinate Voting Share (subject to adjustment in accordance with the terms of the Arrangement Agreement), until such time as amended in accordance with the New Arrangement.
If the New Arrangement is consummated, among other things, each Subordinate Voting Share will be exchanged for 0.7 of a Class E subordinate voting share (each whole share, a “Fixed Share”) and 0.3 of a Class D subordinate voting share (each whole share, a “Floating Share”), each Proportionate Voting Share will be exchanged for 28 Fixed Shares and 12 Floating Shares and each Multiple Voting Share will be exchanged for 0.7 of a Class F multiple voting share (each whole share, a “Fixed Multiple Share”) and 0.3 of a Floating Share. In addition to various amendments to the covenants, restrictions and closing conditions contained in the Arrangement Agreement, the New Arrangement will provide (i) that upon the occurrence (or waiver of Canopy Growth) of the Triggering Event, Canopy Growth will, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain closing conditions (as amended by the New Arrangement), acquire all of the issued and outstanding Fixed Shares on the basis of 0.3048 of a Canopy Growth Share per Fixed Share (following the automatic conversion of the Fixed Multiple Shares and subject to adjustment in accordance with the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, as amended by the New Arrangement); and (ii) an option, exercisable at the discretion of Canopy Growth, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding 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 Canadian Securities Exchange 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 Current Arrangement and the Acquisition please see the respective information circulars of each of Acreage and Canopy Growth dated May 17, 2019, which are available on Canopy Growth’s and Acreage’s respective profiles on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on the EDGAR website at www.sec.gov. For more information about the New Arrangement, please see Acreage’s press release dated June 25, 2020 and the subsequent public filings that may be made by Acreage from time to time in respect thereof, which are available under Acreage’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and filed with the SEC on the EDGAR website at www.sec.gov. Additional details will be provided to Acreage shareholders in the proxy statement to be mailed to Acreage shareholders in connection with the shareholder meeting to approve the transactions contemplated by the New Arrangement. For additional information regarding Canopy Growth, please see Canopy Growth’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
