RYE BROOK, N.Y. – Schultze Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: SAMA, SAMAW, and SAMAU) (“SAMA”) and Clever Leaves International Inc. (“Clever Leaves”) announced that following a special meeting of SAMA stockholders held yesterday, they have completed their previously announced business combination (the “Business Combination”), pursuant to which Clever Leaves Holdings Inc. (“Holdco”), a newly formed holding company, has acquired SAMA and Clever Leaves for total consideration of approximately $205 million.
Upon completion of the Business Combination, SAMA became a wholly owned subsidiary of Holdco and the shares of common stock and warrants of SAMA were exchanged for common shares and warrants of Holdco. The Holdco common shares and warrants are expected to begin trading today on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbols “CLVR” and “CLVRW”, respectively.
Clever Leaves’ executive management team, led by Kyle Detwiler, Chief Executive Officer; Andrés Fajardo, President; and Julian Wilches, Chief Regulatory Officer; will continue to lead the combined company. The board of directors of the combined company will be composed initially of Kyle Detwiler, Andres Fajardo, Gary Julien, Etienne Deffarges and Elisabeth DeMarse.
George J. Schultze, Chairman and CEO of SAMA before the Business Combination, said, “We are very pleased to have completed our merger with Clever Leaves, which delivers attractive value to our stockholders. We believe that Clever Leaves is now among the best-capitalized companies in the cannabis industry and is well-positioned for substantial growth and profitability based upon its disruptive, low-cost and vertically integrated operating model. We look forward to working with its outstanding and highly accomplished management team to create significant value over time.”
Kyle Detwiler, CEO of Clever Leaves, added, “Partnering with the SAMA team represents a great opportunity to take our industry-leading platform to the next level as we are now poised to benefit from a significantly enhanced balance sheet, Nasdaq listing, and SAMA’s experience assisting companies such as ours in prudently compounding profitable growth. We expect that our combined expertise and resources will further enable us to accelerate the commercialization of Clever Leaves’ high-quality products as well as expand the company’s operations and distribution in attractive markets around the world.”
Canaccord Genuity and EarlyBirdCapital served as financial advisors to SAMA, while BTIG, LLC served as a capital markets advisor, and Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Stikeman Elliott and Posse Herrera Ruiz served as legal advisors. Cowen served as financial advisor to Clever Leaves, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP, Dentons Canada LLP, and Brigard & Urrutia Abogados SAS served as legal advisors.
About Schultze Special Purpose Acquisition Corp.
Schultze Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. is a blank check company formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. SAMA’s sponsor is an affiliate of Schultze Asset Management, LP, an alternative investment management firm founded in 1998 that focuses on distressed, special situation and event-driven securities and has invested over $3.2 billion since inception with a notable track-record through its active investment strategy. SAMA itself is backed by an experienced team of operators and investors with a successful track-record of creating material value in public and private companies. For more information, please visit https://samcospac.com/
About Clever Leaves International Inc.
Clever Leaves is a multi-national cannabis company with a mission to operate in compliance with federal and state laws and with an emphasis on ecologically sustainable, large-scale cultivation and pharmaceutical= grade processing as the cornerstones of its global cannabis business. With operations and investments in the United States, Canada, Colombia, Germany and Portugal, Clever Leaves has created an effective distribution network and global footprint, with a foundation built upon capital efficiency and rapid growth.
Clever Leaves aims to be one of the industry’s leading global cannabis companies recognized for its principles, people, and performance while fostering a healthier global community. For more information, please visit https://cleverleaves.com/en/home/
