Marijuana Retailer and Producer Kaya Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:KAYS)
Hails
Florida Court
Marijuana
Licensing
Decision,
Initiates Plans to Enter Florida Market
with Kaya Shack™
Marijuana Dispensaries and Kaya Farms
™
Marijuana Production and Processing Facilities
Ft.
Lauderdale, FL -- July 16, 2019 -- InvestorsHub NewsWire
-- Kaya
Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:KAYS),
an integrated retailer and producer of legal medical and
recreational cannabis products, welcomed
the ruling
of Florida
state appellate
court potentially
opening up the Florida cannabis market to broader competition. The
Company has responded by initiating plans to bring its
popular Kaya
Shack™
retail and
product brands to Florida.
The
First
District Court of Appeal
ruled that
the distribution of legal medical cannabis licenses in Florida,
Kaya Holdings' home state, was
conducted
in disregard to a constitutional
amendment
approved by the state voters, which envisioned
a
broader and more
competitive market.
While
the Court's
ruling is subject to appeal to the Florida Supreme
Court, Governor
Ron DeSantis
has
characterized the current system a "cartel" that needs to be broken
up in order to honor the will of the people, and has stated that he
plans to drop appeals in other marijuana-related cases regarding
limited licensing and vertical integration.
"Kaya
has been waiting for the Florida market to open up. We were
extremely active in the initial effort to pass the amendment and
were disappointed when state officials chose to make acquisition of
a license extremely difficult. We have been waiting for the change
and expect to move quickly once a new licensing process is
announced",
commented KAYS CEO Craig Frank. "Our plan
includes expansion of Kaya Farms™
to Florida
and the potential
introduction
of Kaya Shack™
brand
retial
outlets
either directly or through potential franchises, as well
as
our
brands of
concentrates, edibles, topicals and accessories".
Kaya Holdings to Initiate Capital Raising Effort Via Rule 506(c)
Offering to Capitalize KAYS for Expansion and Launch Kaya Brands
International
Kaya
Holdings is in the process of structuring and preparing offering
documentation for a private offering under Rule 506(c) of
Regulation D. The Company may seek to raise up to $15 million to
fund expansion of its domestic operations, as well as
launching
franchise sales in Canada.
The
proceeds are expected to be used for expansion and completion of
the Company's production capabilities, the launch of Kaya brand
products, expansion of the Kaya Shack™ footprint, support of a
franchise operating infrastructure, development of other foreign
opportunities, and enhancing Kaya
Holdings' traditional role as an industry pacesetter.
We intend
to structure the capital raise in a manner to limit dilution to
current investors, while allowing them to benefit from our
deployment of new capital to fund growth.
While we
have not finalized the structure and terms of the offering, we
anticipate that
that it
will include both shares of KAYS stock as well as shares in Kaya
Brands International, the majority-owned subsidiary we intend to
form for our planned Canadian business operations, with a view to
it potentially being listed on the Canada Securities Exchange (the
"CSE").
"In Q-1
2019, Cannabis and related issuers remained the most active sector
for capital raising on the CSE, closing on gross proceeds of
approximately $550 million through 81 individual financings,"
stated W. David Jones, KAYS Senior Advisor for Business
Development, Licensing and Financial Operations. "Given the intent
by KAYS to launch its planned Canadian franchising operations
through a majority-owned subsidiary, accessing the CSE makes sense
as we believe that it has become an excellent source of new
institutional and retail investment capital and liquidity for
US-based OTC Cannabis Stocks."
Kaya Holdings Conference Call Update. The
Kaya Holdings Annual Shareholder Call, originally slated for late
December 2018/early January 2019 was postponed due to pending
developments with our International division and opportunities in
Canada. We apologize for the delay. Interested parties are advised
to go to www.kayashack.com and
register for KAYS updates; a confirmation email and participation
code will be sent out to all shareholders and interested parties as
soon as the date is set.
About Kaya Holdings, Inc. (www.kayaholdings.com)
and the Kaya
Shack™ brand
(www.kayashack.com)
of licensed medical and recreational marijuana stores:
KAYS
(OTCQB:
KAYS), through subsidiaries, produces, distributes or sells
legal premium medical and recreational cannabis products, including
flower, concentrates and oils, and cannabis-infused foods. In 2014,
KAYS, became the first publicly traded company to own and operate a
Medical Marijuana Dispensary. KAYS has expanded and presently
operates three
Kaya
Shack™ OLCC licensed marijuana retail stores to service the legal
medical and recreational marijuana market in
Oregon (www.kayashack.com),
has developed its own proprietary Kaya Farms™ strains of cannabis,
which it grows and produces (together with edibles and other
cannabis derivatives) at its Eugene, Oregon Sunstone Farms legal
recreational and medical marijuana production and processing
manufacturing facility, which it acquired in October 2018 and is
operating pursuant to a management agreement pending OLCC approval
to reissue the license to MJAI Oregon 1, LLC (KAYS' main Oregon
Operating Subsidiary).
The
Company also owns a 26-acre parcel in Lebanon, Linn County, Oregon,
which it purchased in August 2017 on which it intends to construct
a cultivation and production facility. We filed for zoning and land
use approval in early 2018, and after numerous regulatory
challenges and delays, we finally received zoning and land use
approval in January, 2019 to build an 85,000-square foot Kaya
Farms™ greenhouse grow and production facility. Kaya Farms has
begun designing the facility for maximum production of
approximately 100,000 pounds annually, should recent efforts by
Oregon state officials to enable export, or Federal
decriminalization permit Oregon cannabis farms to maximize
capacity.
The
Company maintains a genetics library of over 30 strains of cannabis
it has developed and has also formulated various edibles, cannabis
derivatives and marijuana cigarettes under the "Kaya" brand
name.
Oregon has
"paused" the acceptance of new license applications, but the law
allows the existing licenses to be sold and/or moved from one
physical location to another. KAYS is presently evaluating how best
to utilize these assets to form a network that will not only
maximize our penetration of the Oregon Cannabis market but serve as
the backbone to grow our U.S. Operations across state lines through
the rollout of proprietary brands. KAYS has initiated paperwork
with the OLCC to temporarily close one of the three outlets in
Salem (store #3 in North Salem) and hopes to move that license to
its Eugene, Oregon Sunstone Farms legal recreational and medical
marijuana production
and processing facility where it would be operated as a Kaya Farms
Store™ which would allow it to also serve as a delivery hub to
service the City of Eugene.
Additionally,
the Company is exploring opportunities to expand its operations
beyond Oregon by replicating its Kaya Shack™ brand retail outlets
through franchising in other states where recreational cannabis use
is legal or expected to become legal in the near term, as well as
in Canada, where it is legal nationwide.
KAYS has
retained the Toronto, Canada based law firm of Garfinkle Biderman,
LLP to prepare the Franchise Disclosure Documents ("FDD") and
related items for the sale of Kaya Shack™ Cannabis Store franchises
in Canada, which is the only G7 country that has legalized both
medical and recreational cannabis production, sale and use on a
national level. KAYS is near completion of negotiations with a
leading franchise and real estate brokerage firm to lead the
initial effort, which will most likely begin in the Province of
British Columbia, and advance to other Provinces as license
allocations are developed by the Canadian authorities. We expect
the franchise sale and placement effort throughout Canada to
progress over the next 3-18 months. KAYS plans to ultimately expand
its franchise operations to the U.S., as regulations and laws
permit.
IMPORTANT
DISCLOSURE: KAYS is planning execution of its stated business
objectives in accordance with current understanding of State and
Local Laws and Federal Enforcement Policies and Priorities as it
relates to Marijuana (as outlined in the Justice Department's U.S.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions Memo dated January 4, 2018, and
subsequent commentary from the U.S. Attorney for the District of
Oregon Billy Williams), and plans to proceed cautiously with
respect to legal and compliance issues. Potential investors and
shareholders are cautioned that KAYS and MJAI will obtain advice of
counsel prior to actualizing any portion of their business plan
(including but not limited to license applications for the
cultivation, distribution or sale of marijuana products, engaging
in said activities or acquiring existing Cannabis production/sales
operations). Advice of counsel with regard to specific activities
of KAYS, Federal, State or Local legal action or changes in Federal
Government Policy and/or State and Local Laws may adversely affect
business operations and shareholder value.
Forward Looking Statements
This press
release includes statements that may constitute
"forward-looking" statements,
usually containing the words "believe," "estimate," "project,"
"expect" or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant
to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would
cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not
limited to, acceptance of the Company's current and future products
and services in the marketplace, the ability of the Company to
develop effective new products and receive regulatory approvals of
such products, competitive factors, dependence upon third-party
vendors, and other risks detailed in the Company's periodic report
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By making
these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no
obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes
after the date of this release.
For more
information contact Investor Relations: 561-210-7664