Canada’s Maricann buys biotech firm, raises CA$35M to up capacity

Maricann Group announced a double-dose of positive news this week.

The Toronto medical marijuana producer and distributor (Canadian Securities Exchange: MARI) said it agreed to purchase biotech company NanoLeaf Technologies for 38.5 million Canadian dollars ($30 million).

Maricann also secured up to CA$35 million in funding through a private placement of convertible debt.

Under the acquisition, shareholders of Toronto-based NanoLeaf will receive some 18.3 million common shares of Maricann stock at CA$2.10 per share. Maricann will also loan NanoLeaf CA$1.6 million in cash.

NanoLeaf, through its licensing agreement with Vesifact AG of Switzerland, has developed and marketed the first cannabinoid standardized dose softgel capsule in a nano-dispersed drug called Vesisorb, Maricann said in a news release.

The new funding, meanwhile, will allow Maricann to expand annual production capacity at its facility in Langton, Ontario, by 35,000 kilograms, to more than to 57,000 kilograms (125,000 pounds).

The facility will total 517,000 square feet when fully built out, according to the company.

Along with Aphria and Tilray, Maricann is among those licensed producers with plans to boost production capacity in southern Ontario.