Red Light Holland, Creso Pharma Merge To Form HighBrid Lab

Cannabis company Creso Pharma Limited  (ASX: CPH)  (OTCQB: COPHF) is merging with psychedelic treatment company Red Light Holland Corp. (CSE: TRIP) (OTC Pink: TRUFF) to create The HighBrid Lab. The transaction is a reverse takeover of Red Light Holland by Creso Pharma giving Red Light shareholders a 29% premium for their shares. Creso shareholders will own 57% of the new company.

The combined company will use the symbol TRIP. The new company is expected to have a cash balance of approximately C$45 million (A$48 million), providing considerable financial flexibility to progress its growth strategy.

Red Light Holland’s current Chief Executive Officer, Todd Shapiro, will lead HighBrid as CEO and Director.

“The company understands the sensitive complexities of the ingredients we deal with, while ensuring we continue to make a bold yet careful push to provide and increase access for immediate revenue generation and brand expansion. Our core principle is to compliantly lead with edgy consumer packaged goods focused on positive outcomes, while balancing a responsible, regulated, and educational use approach through technology and innovation,” said Todd Shapiro CEO and Director of Red Light Holland. “Merging with Creso Pharma, who also has significant cash on hand, and formulating The HighBrid Lab, with Bruce Linton as Chair of the Board, means we can expand our premium product offerings globally in the high growth CBD, THC and psychedelic sectors. Together we are bullish on developing world-class products with naturally occurring ingredients in clever and innovative ways for both humans and pets, which completely aligns with Creso Pharma’s R&D and sales approach. The HighBrid Lab ramps up our objectives for near and long-term growth targets, while potentially being a part of positive change. The HighBrid Lab is a perfect name combining psychedelics and cannabis coupled with recreational use, science, and technology. This is a monumental day for all of our shareholders and now their pets!”

Former Canopy Growth founder Bruce Linton is expected to join as Non-Executive Chairman of The HighBrid Lab’s board of directors. The board of directors will consist of seven members, three of which, including Mr. Shapiro, will be current directors of Red Light Holland, and three of which, will be directors or nominees of Creso Pharma.Mr. Bruce Linton is expected to be the seventh member, as non-executive Chairman. Mr. William Lay, previously Associate Director, M&A at Canopy Growth appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer to assist in growth trajectory.

“Having worked with both the Creso Pharma and Red Light Holland teams closely in the past, I am really excited by the potential this combination brings. As a merged company, The HighBrid Lab has access to four of the highest growth industry segments around, and the team, board and advisory group to make real progress within these verticals. I’m really looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and helping The HighBrid Lab get to work!” said Bruce Linton, who is expected to join the Combined Company’s board as non-executive Chairman.

Growth Objectives

HighBrid said its growth objectives include expanding market and brand leadership in recreational psilocybin. Applied science and innovation supporting long-term opportunities in psychedelics with both naturally occurring and pharmaceutical grade drug discovery aiming for advanced and approved product offerings through controlled lab environments via the pending acquisitions of Halucenex and Mera Life Sciences. Creso Pharma has conditionally agreed to acquire Canada-based psychedelics life sciences company, Halucenex, which has submitted an application for a Dealer’s License under both the Narcotics Control Regulations and Part J of the Food and Drugs Regulations. Red Light Holland recently extended its LOI with Mera Life Sciences and continues discussions regarding a previously announced potential investment in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which is expected to be a part of the Combined Company’s applied science platform.

Despite the move towards psychedelics, the company said it will continue scaling its recreational cannabis offering in North America by focusing on increasing market share in Canada and taking advantage of its CSE listing to advance the introduction of products into the US.

In addition to separate paths for cannabis and mushrooms, the company said it plans on introducing recreational product offerings under existing Red Light Holland brands with applied science including combined CBD and mushroom products and ready to drink products with mushrooms, CBD and THC, while focusing on adding adjacent iMicrodose product lines with ingredients including CBD, THC and functional mushrooms, as and where permitted to do so. Already the market is seeing the introduction of CBD combinations with various legal mushroom products like Lions Mane, Reishi and Cordyceps.

 

Debra Borchardt

Debra Borchardt is the Co-Founder, and Executive Editor of GMR. She has covered the cannabis industry for several years at Forbes, Seeking Alpha and TheStreet. Prior to becoming a financial journalist, Debra was a Vice President at Bear Stearns where she held a Series 7 and Registered Investment Advisor license. Debra has a Master's degree in Business Journalism from New York University.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get the latest cannabis news delivered right to your inbox

The Morning Rise

Unpack the industry with the daily cannabis newsletter for business leaders.

 Sign up


About Us

The Green Market Report focuses on the financial news of the rapidly growing cannabis industry. Our target approach filters out the daily noise and does a deep dive into the financial, business and economic side of the cannabis industry. Our team is cultivating the industry’s critical news into one source and providing open source insights and data analysis


READ MORE



Recent Tweets

Get the latest cannabis news delivered right to your inbox

The Morning Rise

Unpack the industry with the daily cannabis newsletter for business leaders.