National Access Cannabis (NAC) entered into a loan agreement and connected collateral documents with Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) for a secured loan of up to $35 million.
NAC plans to use the loan proceeds to build 50 to 70 cannabis retail locations across Western Canada in 2018 under its retail brand Meta Cannabis Supply, as well as for working capital purposes. META stores are currently under construction in Manitoba.
The loan has a six-month term and carries an interest rate of 10% per year. OCN will receive a commitment fee of $1.6 million to $3 million, depending on repayment circumstances.
“This financing enables NAC to fund the build-out of its recreational cannabis retail locations across Western Canada, in order to open in time for cannabis retail legalization on October 17th and capture market share throughout the end of 2018,” said Mark Goliger, CEO of NAC. “OCN, one of NAC’s shareholders, understands the importance of this timeline and have supported us by extending the capital necessary to start immediate build-out.”
“OCN has always believed in and supported the vision of NAC,” said OCN Onekanew Christian Sinclair. “We invested when NAC went public over a year ago, which was a pivotal moment for NAC and for OCN. This was an aggressive move for a First Nation, making a material investment in a cannabis company. What we saw then is the same as we see now, that we believe there is potentially more margin in retail than in other parts of the industry value chain. We believe that this financing allows NAC to take advantage of another pivotal moment and build a dominant footprint of cannabis retail operations.”
National Access Cannabis has a Canada-wide network of care centers, pharmacies, recreational cannabis retail stores and a clinical research division, which enable patients and the public to gain knowledge and access to Canada’s network of authorized licensed producers of cannabis.
