VIVO FINDS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
The company’s recent acquisition of Canna Farms boosts production capacity, patient base
For VIVO Cannabis Inc., the numbers say a great deal about its future prospects: one major acquisition, over $100 million in cash on the books, three new brand offerings added to a rapidly expanding portfolio, and a cannabis patient base and production capacity that has tripled in recent months.
While the name may not be familiar to some, it soon will be. VIVO Cannabis™ was formerly known as ABcann Global Corp., which became a licensed producer in 2014. The name change better reflects the company’s purpose and future direction, says CEO Barry Fishman. “VIVO is the Latin word for living. We felt it embodied our commitment to providing quality cannabis products and services that improve lives. It’s the common thread that unites us all.”
A key mission for VIVO is to develop a collection of premium brands that target three customer segments. Currently, those are Beacon for medical users, Fireside for social recreational users, and Lumina for consumers focused on health and wellness.
With the name change came another major announcement: the acquisition of one of British Columbia’s premium cannabis companies, Canna Farms Ltd. This highly successful and respected family-run operation in Hope, B.C., was among the first licensed producers in the country and has many years of cultivation experience in the medical cannabis field.
“We definitely did our homework before deciding to make the offer,” Fishman says. “Canna Farms is a well-managed company that grows award-winning products and has developed a wide variety of strains. It has a great reputation and a strong and loyal patient base. In fact, it has one of the best ratings of all the licensed producers in Canada. Their patient base was also significantly higher than ours, and they are generating positive cash flow. When you add all that up, everything about the deal was positive for both of us.
“With Canna Farms on board, we are now a leading, fully integrated international cannabis company with increased production capacity, expanded product offerings, operational efficiencies and a more robust platform to accelerate our growth,” he adds.
Owners Daniel and Raymond Laflamme will remain with the combined company as president of Canna Farms and as senior vice president, facilities and engineering. Daniel Laflamme will also serve on VIVO’s board of directors.
Fishman stresses that the acquisition will not affect current jobs in B.C. or Ontario. “In fact, we will likely be hiring more people as our companies grow.”
The acquisition will allow
With its significantly larger cannabis patient base, VIVO has a strong platform to develop premium products to meet growing adult-use demand.”
VIVO to reach 57,000 kilograms of annual domestic production capacity by 2020, Fishman claims. Having two production facilities in Ontario (designed in partnership with the University of Guelph) and British Columbia will also increase extraction capacity for more diversified production. “The growing technologies we have developed are as stateof-the-art as you can get,” Fishman says.
With its significantly larger cannabis patient base, VIVO has a strong platform to develop premium products to meet growing adult-use demand both domestically and internationally. To that end, VIVO has already secured multiple provincial supply agreements, with more to come.
On the global front, “Canna Farms’ dealer licence combined with VIVO’s international partnerships and expertise will be strong catalysts in our expansion strategy in international markets,” Fishman says.
“Our initial focus is on Australia and Germany, where we already have people on the ground,” he explains. “We believe the best strategy for Europe is to establish a solid platform in Germany and expand from there into Italy, Spain, the UK and beyond.” VIVO has also entered into supply side agreements with third parties, with plans to invest in offshore cultivation facilities starting in mid-2020.
As VIVO integrates all the recent changes, Fishman says the main focus in 2019 will be delivering on the business plan. “I’d say we’ve had a very busy few months. We’ve never been busier or more motivated to make a difference.”
He says VIVO has spent the better part of this year developing a great plan and a solid vision. “We’ve changed the team, upgraded a lot of our grow technologies, expanded our Harvest Medical Clinic operations and rolled out new medical and recreational brands. We know where we want to go. The team is now ready to execute on that.”
Having come from an enterprise background, Fishman says the cannabis business in Canada is moving along at an unprecedented pace. “This is not a business where people work 9 to 5, five days a week. It’s super-competitive and fast-moving. Most of us here came from big companies that certainly don’ t move as fast as we have to today. People in this industry really love action and challenges — and moving really, really fast. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart.”