TORONTO — Cronos Group Inc., through a wholly owned subsidiary, has entered into a definitive share sale and purchase agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of CanAdelaar B.V., a company operating within the Netherlands’ adult-use cannabis pilot program (the Wietexperiment). Under the agreement, Cronos will acquire the shares for up-front consideration of €57.5 million, (about US$67.0 million), with additional contingent consideration payable in cash based on 0.5x of CanAdelaar’s normalized EBITDA in 2026 and 2027.
The Netherlands’ adult-use cannabis pilot program, the Wietexperiment, was enacted in 2020 to establish a closed, regulated cannabis supply chain in ten participating municipalities. The start-up phase began in the fourth quarter of 2023, with the experimental phase officially launching on April 7, 2025. The program is scheduled to run for four years from that date, with the Dutch government retaining the option to extend it by up to an additional 18 months.
Under the Wietexperiment, all 72 coffee shops (cannabis retailers) in the ten participating municipalities may no longer operate within the legacy ‘tolerated’ market and are required to source their cannabis products exclusively from one of ten licensed producers (including CanAdelaar). The framework prohibits the import and export of cannabis products, sales between licensed producers, and any supply to coffee shops outside the participating municipalities.
Founded in 2018, CanAdelaar received its license under the Wietexperiment in the second quarter of 2023. CanAdelaar is headquartered in and operates out of Voorne aan Zee, Netherlands, with a 540,000 square foot facility spanning greenhouse cultivation as well as processing, production and packaging of all CanAdelaar products. With active sales to nearly all 72 coffee shops within the Wietexperiment, CanAdelaar sells flower, pre-rolls, hash, and edibles.
Related Articles:
