SMITHS FALLS, ON and
TORONTO, Oct. 2, 2019 /CNW/ - Canopy Growth Corporation
("Canopy Growth" or the "Company") (TSX: WEED) (NYSE: CGC) is
pleased to announce that it has completed an all-cash transaction
to purchase a majority stake in BioSteel Sports Nutrition Inc.
("BioSteel"), a leading producer of sports nutrition products. The
transaction provides Canopy Growth with a significant platform to
enter the sports nutrition and hydration segment, and lays the
groundwork for the adoption of cannabidiol ("CBD") in future
product offerings in accordance with regulations globally including
products to be sold in the U.S. containing CBD sourced from
federally permissible industrial hemp.
Founded in 2009, BioSteel's focus on premium natural
ingredients, product transparency, and identifying the essential
nutrients needed to power physical activity has led to the brand
achieving a reputation for being the hydration product provider of
choice for high performance athletes. BioSteel products have been
purchased by over 70% of the teams in North America's four major sports leagues and
ambassadors of the brand include: Ezekiel
Elliott, of the Dallas Cowboys; Connor McDavid, of the Edmonton Oilers; WTA
player, Eugenie Bouchard;
Andrew Wiggins with the Minnesota
Timberwolves; Tyler Seguin with the
Dallas Stars; Jalen Ramsey, with the
Jacksonville Jaguars; NHL Hall of Famer, Wayne Gretzky; Gleyber Torres, with the New York
Yankees; and Smiths Falls very own, LPGA golfer Brooke Henderson. In particular, Elliott's
agreement with BioSteel allows them to activate the star running
back as the leading endorser of CBD products once permitted by the
NFL. To date no active player has been able to do so.
In addition, BioSteel has national organizational partnerships
with USA Hockey, Canada
Basketball, Athletics Canada and the Professional Hockey Players
Association. The company has 10,000+ points of distribution in
Canada and the U.S. and continues
to expand in both markets and into Europe.
"BioSteel has a reputation for being a best-in-class provider of
natural sports nutrition products and all of its products are well
positioned to benefit from the increasing trend of plant-based and
all-natural products, preferred not only by professional athletes,
but active consumers as well," commented Mark Zekulin, CEO, Canopy Growth. "This
acquisition allows us to enter the sports nutrition space with a
strong and growing brand as we continue towards a regulated market
of food and beverage products that contain cannabis. We view the
adoption of CBD in future BioSteel offerings as a potentially
significant and disruptive growth driver for our business."
"The use and acceptance of CBD-based products in the
professional sports landscape has changed. We have witnessed the
negative effects of prescription painkillers and athletes are
looking for healthier alternatives," said Michael Cammalleri, Co-Founder and Co-CEO,
BioSteel Sports Nutrition. "Its presence is already commonplace
amongst NHL players and as a regular CBD user myself, I couldn't be
more proud to champion BioSteel's evolution and leadership in this
space."
"Since inception, BioSteel has taken great pride in being at the
forefront of healthy and natural sports nutrition. Joining Canopy
Growth, the world leader in cannabis research, development and
production, reflects the natural evolution of our brand and will
allow us to expand our product offering and global distribution,"
said John Celenza, Co-Founder and
Co-CEO, BioSteel Sports Nutrition. "The consumer market and
many of our athletes have a growing knowledge of cannabis and CBD
products and this partnership ensures that we will continue to
raise the bar in the sports nutrition field."
Today's announcement further advances Canopy Growth's ongoing
multi-faceted strategy to enter new markets with a platform
spanning production, distribution and marketing of CBD products
derived from hemp and cannabis in accordance with regulations
across a number of different verticals. The transaction gives
Canopy Growth a 72% stake in BioSteel with an agreed upon path to
100% ownership.
Paradigm Capital Inc. has acted as BioSteel's financial advisor
and McCarthy Tetrault LLP has acted as BioSteel's legal counsel in
connection with the transaction.
BioSteel Factsheet
- BioSteel's origins date back to 2005, when the first
non-commercial version of BioSteel's Sports Hydration Mix
#DrinkThePink, was created.
- BioSteel's core executive team include: John Celenza, Co-Founder & Co-CEO and one of
Canada's top sports and nutrition
executives; Andrew Nichols, Chief
Revenue Officer and former managing director in Canada for leading footwear brand, Crocs; and
Michael Cammalleri, Co-Founder &
Co-CEO and a former NHL player who played 16 seasons with the LA
Kings, Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and
Edmonton Oilers. Cammalleri has now assumed a full-time role with
the business and is a driving force behind BioSteel's growth and
future plans.
- The key success factor in BioSteel's Sports Hydration Mix
#DrinkThePink is a focus on natural ingredients and superior
performance. Their Sports Hydration Mix is free of sugar,
stimulants, gluten and artificial colours/flavours, in stark
contrast to mainstream sports drink competitors.
- The original non-commercial version of this flagship product
was designed by Matt Nichol in 2005
following the announcement of new drug testing regulations in the
NHL. By 2009, BioSteel was marketing its Sports Hydration Mix
#DrinkThePink for sale to professional sports teams in
North America and began to gain a
reputation as the hydration product of choice for high performance
athletes.
- Today, BioSteel products continue to be designed for
professional athletes in addition to a growing active consumer
base. Its product offerings include the original Sports Hydration
Mix #DrinkThePink, whey and plant-based proteins, everyday
essentials (sports greens, vitamins, collagen, etc.) performance
supplements (creatine, BCAAs, etc.) and merchandise.
- BioSteel has curated a roster of some of the best athletes in
professional sports and leverages these relationships to drive
marketing awareness and consumer appeal. A key facet of the
BioSteel brand is authenticity, which is reinforced by the fact
that each Team BioSteel athlete actually uses BioSteel products.
#TEAMBIOSTEEL has a combined following over 10 million followers
between Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Here's to Future Growth (fueled by BioSteel).
About Canopy Growth Corporation
Canopy Growth
(TSX:WEED, NYSE:CGC) is a world-leading diversified cannabis, hemp
and cannabis device company, offering distinct brands and curated
cannabis varieties in dried, oil and Softgel capsule forms, as well
as medical devices through the Company's subsidiary, Storz &
Bickel GMbH & Co. KG. From product and process innovation to
market execution, Canopy Growth is driven by a passion for
leadership and a commitment to building a world-class cannabis
company one product, site and country at a time.
The Company has operations in over a dozen countries across five
continents. The Company's medical division, Spectrum Therapeutics
is proudly dedicated to educating healthcare practitioners,
conducting robust clinical research, and furthering the public's
understanding of cannabis, and has devoted millions of dollars
toward cutting edge, commercializable research and IP development.
Spectrum Therapeutics sells a range of full-spectrum products using
its colour-coded classification Spectrum system as well as single
cannabinoid Dronabinol under the brand Bionorica Ethics.
The Company operates retail stores across Canada under its award-winning Tweed and Tokyo
Smoke banners. Tweed is a globally recognized cannabis brand which
has built a large and loyal following by focusing on quality
products and meaningful customer relationships.
From our historic public listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange
and New York Stock Exchange to our continued international
expansion, pride in advancing shareholder value through leadership
is engrained in all we do at Canopy Growth. Canopy Growth has
established partnerships with leading sector names including
cannabis icons Snoop Dogg and Seth
Rogen, breeding legends DNA Genetics and Green House Seeds,
and Fortune 500 alcohol leader Constellation Brands, to name but a
few. Canopy Growth operates eleven licensed cannabis production
sites with over 5.2 million square feet of production capacity,
including over one million square feet of GMP certified production
space. For more information visit www.canopygrowth.com
About BioSteel
BioSteel is a North America operated sports nutrition
company that was built on the mandate of providing the safest,
healthiest, and most effective line of nutritional products
available. BioSteel's line of nutritional products ranges from a
sugar and caffeine free sports beverage with no artificial
flavours, colours, or preservatives, to a line of proteins and
everyday essentials. BioSteel products are currently readily
available across North America,
and globally with select retail partners or direct to consumers
online,through www.biosteel.com.
Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news
release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable
Canadian securities legislation. Often, but not always,
forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the
use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is
expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not
anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases
or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could",
"would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.
Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements of Canopy Growth or its
subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements or information contained in this news
release. Examples of such statements include leading endorser of
CBD products once permitted by the NFL and undergoing expansion
into the U.S and Europe. Risks,
uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking
information could cause actual events, results, performance,
prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including
CBD regulations, and such risks contained in the Company's annual
information form dated June 27, 2018
and filed with Canadian securities regulators available on the
Company's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the
Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing
the forward-looking information or forward-looking statements in
this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be
placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such
events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The
forward-looking information and forward-looking statements included
in this news release are made as of the date of this news release
and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update
such forward-looking information or forward-looking information to
reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless
required by applicable securities laws.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/canopy-growth-announces-purchase-of-majority-stake-in-biosteel-sports-nutrition-inc-300929561.html
SOURCE Canopy Growth Corporation