Zenabis Global Inc. Announces Transition of Chief Executive Officer with Appointment of Kevin Coft
Former CEO Andrew Grieve will continue to contribute as a Zenabis Board member
VANCOUVER, Dec. 11, 2019 /CNW/ - Zenabis Global Inc. (TSX: ZENA) ("Zenabis" or the "Company") announced today the appointment of Kevin Coft as interim Chief Executive Officer ("CEO"), effective immediately. Mr. Coft will replace Andrew Grieve as CEO, whose contract was set to expire shortly. While Mr. Grieve will be returning to his investment business, he has agreed to continue to provide Zenabis with his knowledge, expertise and guidance as a continuing member of Zenabis' board.
Announcing the transition of responsibilities, Monty Sikka, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zenabis, said, "The Board thanks Kevin for taking on the role of Chief Executive Officer on an interim basis. We look forward to working with him as we complete the final phase of our operational ramp-up into early 2020, and as we further consolidate our position as a leading Canadian cannabis licensed producer. Kevin has a track record as a leader in the cannabis industry, with experience as CEO in a previous iteration of the Zenabis business. We will take full advantage of his knowledge of the company and industry, as well as his steady leadership as we continue to mature as a business. In this phase of our growth, we look forward to Kevin's leadership as we continue our search for a permanent, CPG (consumer packaged goods) and operations-focused CEO."
The Zenabis Board has engaged Korn Ferry to assist with the hiring of a permanent CEO and expects to have a permanent CEO in place in the first quarter of 2020.
Mr. Coft was one of Zenabis' founding members, having previously acted as CEO when it was a part of the Sun Pharm group, and before the amalgamation with Bevo Agro that created Zenabis Global Inc. In that role, he was responsible for Zenabis achieving ACMPR compliance as a Canadian cannabis licensed producer.
Mr. Coft is an operational and supply chain professional with over 30 years of international procurement, facility operations, and managerial experience. His industrial expertise covers a wide range of functions including regulatory licensing, construction, strategy, operations, logistics, warehousing, customer relationship management, and business systems. Most recently, Mr. Coft was responsible for the construction build-out of Zenabis' facilities across Canada, as Chief Facilities Officer, including one of Canada's largest indoor cannabis cultivation facilities, located in Atholville, New Brunswick. Previously, he held senior roles at IHL Group and Buy-Low Foods.
"Zenabis developed rapidly since its public listing, with a variety of capital raisings, large-scale construction, and most importantly, increasingly large harvests of high-quality cannabis," said Mr. Coft. "Zenabis has come a long way in a short period of time, and I am excited about leading the team on an interim basis as we enter the next chapter of our development and seek to establish Zenabis as a cashflow positive, operationally efficient leader in the industry."
"I am incredibly proud of the construction, licensing, and cultivation achievements of the Zenabis team during my tenure," said Mr. Grieve. "From just over 5,000 kg of licensed cultivation capacity in January of 2019, to 57,000 kg at this time, with another 39,400 kg submitted for licensing and an incremental 14,800 kg having recently achieved substantial completion, the pace of growth has been exceptional. Kevin, leading our construction team as the Chief Facilities Officer, was instrumental in achieving that pace. I look forward to continue to serve Zenabis on the board of directors, and to continue working with the team."
Mr. Sikka concluded, "Andrew played a pivotal role in our history. The Board thanks him for his hard work and execution of so many of our business deliverables. We now look forward continuing to deliver stakeholder value under Kevin's leadership."
About Zenabis
Zenabis is a significant Canadian licensed cultivator of medical and recreational cannabis, and a propagator and cultivator of floral and vegetable products. Zenabis employs staff coast-to-coast, across facilities in Atholville, New Brunswick; Delta, Aldergrove, Pitt Meadows and Langley, British Columbia; and Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Zenabis currently has 57,000 kg of licensed cannabis cultivation space across four licensed facilities. Zenabis has 3.5 million square feet of total facility space dedicated to a mix of cannabis production and cultivation and its propagation and floral business.
Zenabis expects its Zenabis Atholville, Zenabis Stellarton and Zenabis Langley facilities to have a licensed annual production capacity of 143,200 kg of dried cannabis by the second quarter of 2020. The Zenabis brand name is used in the cannabis medical market, the Namaste, Blazery, and Re-Up brand names are used in the cannabis adult-use recreational market, and the True Büch brand name is used for Zenabis' kombucha products.
Forward Looking Information
This news release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information may include, among others, statements regarding the future plans, costs, objectives or performance of Zenabis, or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. In this news release, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate" and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: the ability of Zenabis to attract a permanent CEO with the desired experience and appropriate qualifications; the continued desire and availability of Mr. Grieve to serve as a director of Zenabis; our expectations for the completion of our operational ramp-up in 2020; the development of our business; and statements with respect to leadership changes and transitions. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or management's good-faith belief with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond Zenabis' control. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those described in the shelf prospectus dated April 9, 2019, a copy of which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Furthermore, any forward-looking information with respect to available space for cannabis production is subject to the qualification that management of Zenabis may decide not to use all available space for cannabis production, and the assumptions that any construction or conversion would not be cost prohibitive, required permits will be obtained and the labour, materials and equipment necessary to complete such construction or conversion will be available. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Zenabis does not intend, nor undertake any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except if required by applicable laws.
SOURCE Zenabis Global Inc.
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