At Second Cup, we know that in order to provide the best coffee for our Guests, we must continue to work in harmony with both the environment and people who provide us with the best quality coffee beans. To both our Guests and coffee producers, we pledge that our coffee growing environment is treated with the utmost respect and dignity. All of our coffee producers provide a safe and healthy work environment and employees are compensated in a fair and equitable manner. As well, Second Cup continues to provide financial remuneration for quality beans to directly benefit the farmers, workers and mills. This is our promise.
NAC and Second Cup Establish Strategic Alliance to Operate Recreational Cannabis Dispensaries and Lounges
Apr 12, 2018
10:18am
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, April 12, 2018 – National Access Cannabis Corp. ("NAC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: NAC), Canada’s best practices leader in delivering secure, safe and responsible access to legal cannabis, and The Second Cup Ltd. (“Second Cup”) (TSX:SCU), Canada’s second-largest retailer of speciality coffee, today announced that they have established a strategic alliance to develop and operate a network of NAC-branded recreational cannabis dispensaries initially across Western Canada, expanding to include additional provinces where legally permissible. NAC will apply for licenses to dispense cannabis products and upon receipt, work with Second Cup and applicable franchisees to leverage Second Cup’s extensive Canadian retail footprint to construct retail stores carrying leading cannabis products, including products supplied by CannaRoyalty Corp. (CSE: CRZ) (OTCQX: CNNRF) ("CannaRoyalty"), California’s largest legal distributor of cannabis products. Conversion of any Second Cup café to an NAC-branded recreational cannabis dispensary will be conditional on obtaining a retail license from provincial regulators and the approval of Second Cup and the applicable franchisee and landlord.
“With exceptional quality real estate located across Canada, our alliance with Second Cup will offer consumers access to quality cannabis products and the superior service in the comfortable setting they’ve come to expect from NAC,” said Mark Goliger, Chief Executive Officer of National Access Cannabis. “This relationship allows us to quickly expand our footprint in proven high-traffic retail locations across Canada. With an initial focus on Western Canada, we’ll look to work with Second Cup to license select storefronts, utilizing our proven business model to deliver secure, safe, and responsible access.”
“NAC has developed a strong reputation as a leading operator in the cannabis industry. This strategic relationship provides Second Cup with a great opportunity to leverage our select real estate assets to increase value for shareholders and franchisee partners. At the same time, we remain focused on growing our Second Cup brand and sales through continued product innovation and expanding our network across Canada,” said Garry Macdonald, Second Cup's President & CEO.
In consideration of Second Cup agreeing to enter into this strategic alliance, NAC has issued to Second Cup warrants to purchase an aggregate of 5,000,000 common shares of the Company. The warrants have an exercise price of $0.91 per common share and expire on April 12, 2023. The issuance of the warrants remains subject to requisite regulatory approval, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
About National Access Cannabis
National Access Cannabis is Canada’s best practices leader in delivering secure, safe, and responsible access to legal cannabis. Through its Canada-wide network of care centres, NAC enables patients and the public to gain knowledge and access to Canada’s network of authorized Licensed Producers of Cannabis. National Access Cannabis Corp. is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol (TSXV: NAC). For more information, visit www.nationalaccesscannabis.com
About Second Cup Coffee Co.™
Founded in 1975, The Second Cup Ltd. is a Canadian specialty coffee retailer operating franchised and company owned cafes across Canada. The company's vision is to be the Canadian specialty coffee brand of choice across Canada, committed to superior quality, innovation and profitable growth. For more information, please visit www.secondcup.com or find the company on Facebook and Twitter.
Cautionary Statements
This news release contains forward looking statements and forward looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words “expect”, “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “objective”, “ongoing”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “should”, “believe”, “plans”, “intends” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements and information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements concerning future developments, including the development of a strategic alliance between the Company and Second Cup, the Company’s plans to expand its business relationship with CannaRoyalty, the application for licenses to dispense cannabis products and the conversion of select Second Cup cafes into recreational cannabis dispensaries. Although the Company and Second Cup believe that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements and information because neither the Company nor Second Cup can give any assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, risks associated with general economic conditions; failure to obtain inability to licenses to dispense cannabis products; failure to obtain the consent of applicable landlords and franchisees to the conversion of Second Cup cafés into recreational cannabis dispensaries; regulatory resistance in certain provinces to opening privately owned and operated recreational cannabis dispensaries; adverse industry events; marketing costs; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments involving cannabis; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; the medical and potential cannabis industry in Canada generally; income tax and regulatory matters; the ability of the Company and/or Second Cup to implement their business strategies; competition; crop failure; currency and interest rate fluctuations; and other risks. The Company and Second Cup caution that the foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive.
In addition, the reader is cautioned that historical results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and neither the Company nor Second Cup undertakes any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward looking statement or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information: National Access Cannabis Corp., Mark Goliger, Chief Executive Officer , 1 (800) 411-1126, Info@NationalAccessCannabis.com; Investor Relations, Robert Kelly, LodeRock Advisors Inc., (416) 992-4539, rob.kelly@loderockadvisors.com