Mark Lucas and Nic Foreman.
Medicinal cannabis research and development company Cannasouth has lodged a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for an initial public offering (IPO) of new shares to raise up to $10 million.
Waikato-based Cannasouth is the first New Zealand medicinal cannabis company to use a regulated offer to raise new capital. The offer opened on May 27 and is expected to close on Friday June 14.
Following completion of the offer, Cannasouth will list its shares on the NZX Main Board and become the first IPO to list on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in 2019.
Cannasouth has been granted licences from the Ministry of Health which allows the company to grow a variety of medicinal cannabis cultivars, to possess controlled drugs and extract, and to process and manufacture products for scientific research.
The company has also received import cannabis licences which have been used to import dried cannabis flower from the Netherlands for research and to provide initial cultivar seeds for its growing facility.
Cannasouth raised new capital during 2018 which was used to hire key staff and complete construction of its initial cultivation and research
facilities. Planning has now started to establish GMP (good manufacturing practices) production facilities to manufacture cannabis medicines once the regulatory framework is finalised.
CEO Mark Lucas says the company’s IPO will provide capital for further research into the development of advanced cannabinoid medicines and health-related products.
“As an industry, medicinal cannabis research is still in its early stages, and there has been significant interest from the public to invest in the sector,” he said. “Globally, the market is moving ahead at a rapid pace.”
Lucas said Cannasouth is focused on furthering its medicinal cannabinoid research, specifically the extraction and refining of cannabinoids and exploring the properties of other rarer compounds and how they can assist in treating
medical conditions.
Lucas, alongside co-founder Nic Foreman, has been involved in the cultivation and research of industrial hemp since 2002. In 2016, they moved their focus to medicinal cannabis and received funding to undertake cannabis research projects with the University
of Waikato.
Cannasouth’s board is chaired by Australia-based director Tony Ho and includes former Federated Farmers CEO Conor English as an independent director.
Auckland based corporate advisory firm, CM Partners Limited, is advising on the IPO and is the NZX sponsor for the listing.
Cannasouth’s product disclosure statement and offer details are available on the Disclose Register, disclose-register.companiesoffice.govt.nz, offer number ‘OFR12639’ and on the company’s website cannasouth.co.nz.
