Sundial Growers Inc. completed acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Alcanna Inc. pursuant to a plan of arrangement, for total consideration of approximately CA$320 million ($255.55 million) consisting of cash and common shares of Sundial.
Pursuant to the transaction, former holders of Alcannashares are entitled to receive 8.85 Sundial shares and CA$1.50 in cash for each Alcannashare. Following the transaction, there are approximately 2.4 billion Sundial shares outstanding with existing Sundial shareholders holding approximately 86.6% of such Sundial shares and former Alcanna shareholders holding approximately 13.4% of such Sundial shares.
As a result of the transaction, Sundial claims it has become Canada’s biggest private sector liquor retailer, operating 171 locations predominantly in Alberta under its three retail banners “Wine and Beyond”, “Liquor Depot” and “Ace Liquor”. The company’s management believes that the liquor segment will add sustainable cash flow from operations and stable adjusted EBITDA generation to Sundial’s business.
Alcanna’s established liquor segment generated cash provided by operating activities before working capital changes of CA$25.0 million, which net of cash used by cannabis operations of CA$6.7 million resulted in a consolidated total of CA$18.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021.
Nova, Alcanna’s majority-owned subsidiary, currently owns or operates a total of 78 cannabis retail stores across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario under the “Value Buds” banner. Combined with Sundial's Spiritleaf retail operations, Sundial now owns or operates cannabis retail network with more than 180 locations in Canada.
“This is an exciting day for Sundial as we become a stronger and more capable regulated products platform. We are developing a business model that has never existed at this scale in Canada, and are committed to continuously improving our business while delighting consumers,” stated Zach George, CEO of Sundial. “We look forward to working closely with the team at Alcanna and applaud James Burns’ leadership in repositioning Alcanna’s business and helping to develop Alcanna and Nova into first-class retail enterprises over the last several years"
The Alcanna shares are expected to be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange on or before April 4, 2022.
Sundial Growers shares jumped 5% in premarket trading.
