New York and Bogotá – Northern Swan Holdings, Inc. (Northern Swan), a multi national operator in the federally legal cannabis industry, and Eagle Canada Holdings d/b/a/ Clever Leaves (Clever Leaves), a leading vertically-integrated Colombian licensed producer of pharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis and hemp extracts, announced today a definitive agreement to fully integrate their respective operations. The combined company will operate as Clever Leaves and will own 100% of Clever Leaves as well as Northern Swan’s assets in Canada, Germany, Portugal, and the United States, subject to the completion of certain events. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“Northern Swan’s investment in Clever Leaves has been a resounding success as Clever Leaves has quickly established itself as a leading hemp and medical cannabis producer in Colombia. The strength of the Clever Leaves team, combined with its operating expertise in cannabis cultivation and extraction, is second to none. Clever Leaves’ scale and track record of rapid execution will accelerate growth of the combined company’s global operations. We look forward to working side by side with the team from Clever Leaves to further strengthen our position as a leading global operator and supplier of branded consumer and pharmaceutical cannabinoid products,” said Kyle Detwiler, CEO of Northern Swan.
“Clever Leaves is dedicated to developing and growing the highest quality pharmaceutical-grade hemp and cannabis for our patients. We have always known that Colombia’s expertise in the global agricultural and flower industry had the potential to transform the global cannabis supply chain. Today, we are embarking on a new chapter in our history. With a shared vision, the full combination of Clever Leaves and Northern Swan strengthens our ability to supply the global market with the highest quality hemp and medical cannabis,” said Andrés Fajardo, President of Clever Leaves.
Northern Swan CEO, Kyle Detwiler, will serve as CEO of the combined company, and Clever Leaves’ CEO, Andrés Fajardo, will serve as the company’s President. Mr. Fajardo will also immediately be appointed to the Board of Directors of the company. At the next shareholders’ meeting, it is expected that the newly combined company will increase the size of its Board of Directors and nominate a slate of directors for consideration by shareholders consisting of Mr. Detwiler, Mr. Fajardo, Mr. Del Wright, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief of Staff of Northern Swan, Mr. Joe Salameh, Managing Director and Head of Europe of Northern Swan, and Mr. Julián Wilches, Chief Regulatory Officer of Clever Leaves.
The combined company’s global footprint will now encompass brands, extraction facilities, cultivation operations, and other investments with subsidiaries in Colombia, Portugal, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States with more than 625 employees worldwide. To date, Northern Swan has raised approximately US$105 million of capital.
About the Fully Combined Company
After giving effect to the full combination of Northern Swan and Clever Leaves, the combined company will operate under the name Clever Leaves. Clever Leaves will be a multi-national cannabis company operating in compliance with federal and state laws, with an emphasis on ecologically sustainable, large-scale cultivation and processing as the cornerstone of building out distribution and brands. The newly combined firm will be a leading vertically integrated producer of medical cannabis and hemp extracts and is currently cultivating over 1.5 million square feet of greenhouses under Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) in Colombia, with expected expansion to 2.3 million square feet by the end of 2019 and the goal of reaching 10 million square feet by 2021. Clever Leaves obtained its Colombian Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification from INVIMA, Colombia’s food and drug regulatory agency, after inspection of its top-of-the-line extraction facility and is in the process of being certified with European Good Manufacturing Practices (EU GMP). Clever Leaves’ first extraction facility is capable of extracting 24,000 kilograms of dried flower currently, with expansion underway to increase expected extraction capacity to 324,000 kilograms of dried flower per year by mid-2020. Clever Leaves is also expanding its cultivation and extraction capabilities to Portugal, where it currently owns over 9 million square feet of property with over 100,000 square feet of greenhouses and anticipates its first harvests and appropriate licenses in 2020. With offices in Canada, Colombia, Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States, Clever Leaves will be one of the world’s largest hemp and medical cannabis producers.
