Business
Village Farms International Enters Option Agreement to Acquire 80% of Leli Holland, One of Ten Applicants Eligible for a Netherlands Cannabis Production License in What is Expected to be First Legal Recreational Market in Europe
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Village Farms International, Inc. ("Village Farms" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:VFF) (TSX:VFF) today announced it
About this update from Village Farms International, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Village Farms International, Inc. (\"Village Farms\" or the \"Company\") (NASDAQ:VFF) (TSX:VFF) today announced it has entered into an option agreement whereby the Company has received the irrevocable right to acquire an 80% ownership interest (the \"Option Agreement\") in Netherlands-based Leli Holland B.V. (\"Leli\") upon payment of EUR50,000 (the \"Option\"). Leli is one of the ten applicants selected by lottery to receive a license (subject to customary government approval) to legally cultivate and distribute cannabis to retailers (known as \"coffee shops\") when the Dutch government implements its Experiment to Investigate Closed Cannabis Supply Chains (the \"Dutch Supply Chain Experiment\", also known by the Dutch acronym \"WECG\"). The Dutch Supply Chain Experiment, which is scheduled to operate for a minimum of four years with the potential for national expansions, is expected to be the first legal recreational cannabis market in Europe.\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nThe Option Agreement provides for Village Farms to acquire 80% of Leli's shares for a total of EUR3,950,000 million, of which EUR950,000 is due and payable to Leli's shareholders upon the exercise of the Option and the remainder due and payable in three installments subject to achievement of certain project development milestones. The option is exercisable at the sole discretion of Village Farms.\nLeli and Village Farms plan to construct two indoor Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) production facilities, leveraging Leli's track record managing complex regulatory and approval procedures in the Netherlands at the both the federal and local levels, as well as specific cultivation experience, and Village Farms' three-plus decades as a vertically integrated CEA grower, as well as its extensive experience in cultivation, product development and commercialization in the Canadian legal recreational cannabis market. As the majority owner of Leli, Village Farms will be responsible for the development of the project and product commercialization throughout the fully vertically integrated business model, including design and construction of the facilities, operation of the facilities (providing cultivation and harvesting expertise and drying technology), product development and strategy, branding and marketing, leveraging ...