First African cannabis SPAC to go ahead with Cilo Cybin listing
Africa is about to get its first listing of a medical cannabis-focused SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company, when Cilo Cybin raises money in Johannesburg later this year.
The company is seeking as much as R2-billion, said Gabriel Theron, who leads the business. The share offer will open on September 12 and close in November.
“The first step of the plan with the money raised is to acquire an existing cannabis manufacturing facility and to super-size its capacity,” said Theron, who set up and is a part owner of the proposed site. “We want to position ourselves as one of the largest processing hubs for the cannabis industry in Africa.”
The initial public offering on South Africa’s stock exchange will be just the fourth SPAC listing in Africa and a first for the cannabis industry on the continent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
While the popularity of blank-check companies -- as SPACs are also known -- has been on the wane recently in the US and Asia amid tightening regulatory scrutiny, the Cilo Cybin move indicates there may still be appetite in Africa.
Cilo Cybin’s acquisition target is a facility in Pretoria that has the capacity to produce about R150-million worth of cannabis and vaping products a month, said Theron. The plant is one of many entities in South Africa to have been given a license to cultivate or manufacture cannabis products.
Acquisitions of companies that test brain health and genetics will then be considered, he said. The company may later attempt to list on the Nasdaq exchange in New York to raise further funds.
If or when the market develops, the company plans to explore manufacturing options for products of psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms from which the company takes its name.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
At John Ratcliffe, we are aftermarket specialists for heavy-duty on and off-road vehicles. We engineer and retrofit advanced safety systems, engine...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Weir is a global leader in mining technology. We recognise that our planet’s future depends on the transition to renewable energy, and that...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
