UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

Form 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): April 27, 2021

 

ACREAGE HOLDINGS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Commission File Number: 000-56021

 

British Columbia, Canada 98-1463868
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) (IRS Employer Identification No.)

 

450 LEXINGTON AVENUE, #3308

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10163, UNITED STATES

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

 

(646) 600-9181

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

¨ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
¨ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

 

Title of each class   Trading Symbol(s)   Name of each exchange on which registered
Class E subordinate voting shares   ACRHF   OTC Markets Group Inc.
         
Class D subordinate voting shares   ACRDF   OTC Markets Group Inc.

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company x

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

 

 

 

 

 

 

Item 8.01. Other Events.

 

On April 27, 2021, a subsidiary of Acreage Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”), High Street Capital Partners, LLC (“HSCP”) entered into an amendment (the “Amendment”) to the previously announced Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Agreement”) with RWB Florida LLC (the “Buyer”) and Red, White & Bloom Brands Inc., (the “Parent”) (CSE: RWB) (OTCQX: RWBYF), originally dated February 24, 2021, to sell all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Acreage Florida, Inc. (“Acreage Florida”) for an aggregate purchase price of $60.0 million (the “Transaction”). As part of the Amendment, it was agreed that the cash payment made upon closing would be approximately $16.5 million and a promissory note for approximately $3.5 million would be due within five business days of the closing.

 

On April 28, 2021, the Company announced the closing of the sale of Acreage Florida for aggregate proceeds of approximately $60 million consisting of the cash, shares of the Buyer and short-term notes receivable.

 

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d) Exhibits. The following exhibit is filed as part of this Current Report on Form 8-K.  

 

Exhibit No. Description of Exhibit
99.1 Press release of Acreage Holdings, Inc. related to the Divestiture of Florida Operations, dated April 28, 2021.

 

 

 

 

SIGNATURE

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, hereunto duly authorized.

 

 
  ACREAGE HOLDINGS, INC.
   
Date:  May 3, 2021 /s/ Steve Goertz
 
  Steve Goertz
  Chief Financial Officer

 

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

Acreage Announces Closing of Divestiture of Florida Operations

 

Company Release - 04/28/2021

 

NEW YORK, April 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acreage Holdings, Inc. (“Acreage”) (CSE:ACRG.A.U, ACRG.B.U), (OTCQX: ACRHF, ACRDF) a vertically integrated, multi-state operator of cannabis licenses and assets in the U.S., today announced it has closed its previously disclosed agreement to divest 100% of its Acreage Florida, Inc. subsidiary to Red White and Bloom Brands, LLC (the “Buyer”).

 

“We continue to deliver on our commitments to strengthen our balance sheet and focus our business on core states, which are primarily in the Northeast and Midwest,” said Peter Caldini, Chief Executive Officer of Acreage. “The divestiture of our Florida operations was a significant milestone for Acreage as it accelerates our path to profitability. We are excited to close this chapter and look forward to significant adult-use sales growth opportunities in New Jersey, New York and other Northeast states where Acreage operates.”

 

Closing significantly strengthens Acreage’s balance sheet with the receipt of an aggregate $60 million in proceeds.

 

ABOUT ACREAGE

 

With its principal address in New York City, Acreage is a multi-state operator of cannabis ‎cultivation and retailing facilities in the U.S., including the company’s national retail store ‎brand, The Botanist. Acreage’s wide range of national and regionally available cannabis products include the award-winning The Botanist brand, the highly recognizable Tweed brand, the Prime medical brand in Pennsylvania, the Innocent edibles brand in Illinois and others. Acreage also owns Universal Hemp, LLC, a hemp subsidiary dedicated to the distribution, marketing and sale of CBD products throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 2011, Acreage has focused on building and scaling operations to create a ‎seamless, consumer-focused, branded experience. More information is available at www.acreageholdings.com.

 

On June 27, 2019, Acreage implemented an arrangement under section 288 of the Business Corporations ‎Act (British Columbia) with Canopy Growth Corporation (“Canopy Growth”), which was subsequently amended on September 23, 2020 (the “Amended Arrangement”)‎. Pursuant to the Amended Arrangement, ‎upon ‎the occurrence (or waiver by Canopy Growth) of changes in federal laws in the United States to permit the general cultivation, distribution and possession of marijuana (as defined in the relevant legislation) or to remove the regulation of such activities from the federal laws of the United States (the “Triggering Event”), Canopy Growth will, subject to the ‎satisfaction or waiver of certain closing conditions, acquire ‎all of the issued and outstanding Class E subordinate voting shares (the “Fixed Shares”) on the basis of 0.3048 of a Canopy Growth share per ‎Fixed Share (following the automatic conversion of the Class F multiple voting shares and subject to adjustment ‎in accordance with the terms of the arrangement agreement entered into between Acreage and Canopy Growth on April 18, 2019, as amended on May 15, 2019 and on September 23, 2020).

 

 

 

 

In addition, Canopy Growth holds an option, exercisable at the discretion of Canopy Growth, to acquire all of the ‎issued and outstanding Class D subordinate voting shares (the “Floating Shares”) at the time that Canopy Growth acquires the Fixed Shares, for ‎cash or Canopy Growth shares, as Canopy Growth may determine, at a price per Floating Share based ‎upon the 30-day volume-weighted average trading price of the Floating Shares on the CSE relative to the trading price of the Canopy Growth shares at the time of the ‎occurrence or waiver of the Triggering Event, subject to a minimum price of US$6.41 per Floating Share.

 

For more information about the Amended Arrangement please see the Acreage proxy statement and management information circular dated August 17, 2020 (the “Circular”) and the respective ‎information circulars of each of Acreage and Canopy Growth dated May 17, 2019, which are available on ‎Acreage’s and Canopy Growth’s respective profiles on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and filed with the SEC on the EDGAR website at www.sec.gov. For additional information regarding ‎Canopy Growth, please see Canopy Growth’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

 

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This news release and each of the documents referred to herein contains “forward-looking information” and ‎‎“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation, ‎respectively. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking ‎information, including, for greater certainty, statements regarding Acreage’s position in the New Jersey market or the Amended Arrangement, including the likelihood of completion thereof, the ‎occurrence or waiver of the Triggering Event, the satisfaction or waiver of the closing conditions set out in the Arrangement Agreement and other statements with respect to the proposed transactions with Canopy Growth. ‎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 Acreage 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. 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, but not ‎limited to financing and liquidity risks, and the risks disclosed in the Circular, Acreage’s ‎management information circular dated May 17, 2019 filed on May 23, 2019, Acreage’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended ‎December 31, 2020 ‎dated March 25, 2021 and Acreage’s other public filings, in each case filed with the SEC on the EDGAR website at www.sec.gov and with ‎Canadian securities regulators ‎and available on the issuer profile of Acreage on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although Acreage has attempted to identify ‎important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking ‎information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. ‎

 

 

 

 

Although Acreage 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 Acreage does not undertake any obligation to publicly update such ‎forward-looking information or forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events ‎or otherwise unless required by applicable securities laws.

 

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider has reviewed and does not accept ‎responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.‎

 

For further information contact:

 

Steve West
Vice President, Investor Relations
Investors@acreageholdings.com
646-600-9181

 

 

Source: Acreage Holdings, Inc.