Canadians acquire stake in mushroom venture in Ja
NEW WAVE Holdings Limited, a Canadian-listed mushroom company, said that it has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Anahit Therapeutics Limited, a mushroom enterprise in Jamaica with assets of over CDN$2.5 million (J$260 million).
It is the latest international deal between legal plant companies with plans to farm and sell mushrooms for export. Magic mushrooms contain psilocybin, a natural occurring psychoactive and hallucinogenic compound.
“New Wave Holdings chose Jamaica because it is a jurisdiction where psilocybin is legal. The company plans to export to other legal jurisdictions only, including the Netherlands,” stated New Wave in response to Financial Gleaner queries on the weekend.
Anahit operates two facilities in Jamaica, a cultivation facility, High Grade Farms in Westmoreland and its extraction facility, Medz Up, in St Catherine.
Anahit “has already invested over $2.5 million to build these two facilities,” according to New Wave.
The Financial Gleaner awaits responses to its queries on the operations in relation to regulations in the island.
The investment will shortly follow an expansion drive to increase capacity fourfold at one of its farms. The model appears similar to that of the build out of the marijuana sector, with Canadianlisted companies raising capital in that market to buy farming assets, largely in the developing world.
“Anahit is in the final stages of setting up our psilocybin cultivation facility,” said Clayton Fisher, interim CEO of New Wave Holdings Corp, in a statement to shareholders last week. “By making this strategic investment in these two facilities, we are positioning the company to be a true, fully integrated leader and innovator in the cultivation, processing, and formulation of psilocybin and functional mushroom products,” he said.
The deal for half of the entity involved the issue of 24.5 million New Wave shares to Anahit along with a CDN$350,000 loan from New Wave. The deal would allow New Wave to further increase its supply of psychedelic and functional mushrooms for inclusion in its balance sheet.
The strategy involves building infrastructure to grow and sell mushrooms in Jamaica and exporting products to other ‘legal’ jurisdictions, such as the Netherlands and Brazil.
Anahit product will include names such as cordyceps, lion’s mane, chaga and reishi; mushroombased liquids, concentrated mushroom powder, tea, chocolate, syrups, elixirs, cold beverages, and a nasal spray.
High Grade Farms is a five-acre facility located in Westmoreland, while the Medz Up facility is located on a 17-acre property in Bushy Park, St Catherine.
The facilities are modular and built using modified, 40-foot containers for rapid production of psilocybin mushrooms.
For its expansion, Anahit plans to add five more 40-foot containers to increase the facility’ yield from 15,600 to 78,000 grams per annum.