https://newsletter.en.creamermedia.com
Services|Products
Services|Products
services|products

South African cannabis firm wins Malaysian backer in new listing bid

19th April 2023

By: Bloomberg

  

Font size: - +

Five months after pulling a planned initial public offering South African medical cannabis company Cilo Cybin Holdings plans to try again — this time with the backing of Malaysian biotechnology firm ALPS Global Holding.

ALPS Global will underwrite a Cilo Cybin special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, with R54-million and take a majority stake in the Pretoria-based company with the aim of listing it in Johannesburg by mid-year.

“The underwriting of the SPAC will allow the firm to list by way of introduction on the Alternative Exchange in Johannesburg,” said Gabriel Theron, Cilo Cybin’s founder, in an interview. “Following that, we plan a second raise in dollars, tapping into the ALPS network in Malaysia and Singapore.”

Cilo Cybin is the first South African company to win the right to grow, process and package cannabis goods, and will manufacture different products for ALPS that focus on wellness, biotechnology and medical services. Its initial attempt to list failed after capital raising was slower than anticipated and negotiations then began with ALPS, which says it’s valued at about $1.3-billion.

The SPAC will be used to buy Cilo Cybin’s existing pharmaceutical unit, which cultivates cannabis strains with high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana plants. One of those is Durban Poison, a strong strain of cannabis that’s well known locally.

“Our interest in Cilo Cybin is the potential for future drug development that can be produced for diseases such as Parkinson’s,” said ALPS chief executive officer and founder, Tham Seng Kong, in the same interview. “Cannabis is only the beginning.”

Cilo Cybin is named after the psychoactive substance in magic mushrooms, which it plans to research and market products from.

The SPAC deal will result in ALPS holding about 85% of the cannabis entity, including its existing 10% stake. The general public will hold 10% of the listed entity and Theron the balance.

ALPS plans to list in New York on the Nasdaq toward the end of the year, Tham said.

Edited by Bloomberg

Comments

Showroom

Victaulic
Victaulic

Since 1919, Victaulic’s innovative solutions and design services continue to increase construction productivity and reduce risk, ensuring projects...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

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?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.12 0.214s - 193pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now