Canada's HEXO (HEXO) is again going the acquisition route to bulk up its business. The company has signed an agreement to purchase fellow Ontario-based peer 48North Cannabis (NCNNF) in an all-stock deal valued at around 50 million Canadian dollars ($41 million) in enterprise value.
Under the terms of the arrangement, 48North stockholders will receive 0.02366 of a share of HEXO common stock per each 48North share they own. That works out to a roughly 20% premium on the former company's stock price, according to the buyer.
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HEXO's interest in the Toronto-headquartered company is its product lineup. In the press release heralding the deal, HEXO quoted its CEO Sebastien St-Louis as saying that "48North's innovative product portfolio complements HEXO's existing brands which, combined with their additional market penetration, will further strengthen HEXO's position in the Canadian market."
The company believes that owning 48North could produce up to CA$12 million ($9.9 million) in cost synergies within one year of the acquisition's close.
The acquisition is hardly the first for HEXO in recent times. In February, the ambitious company announced that it struck a much larger deal, in which it is to pay CA$235 million ($194 million) for another peer, Zenabis Global. That buy, which like 48North is being transacted entirely in HEXO stock, is yet to close.
As for the 48North deal, it has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies. It is subject to approval by at least two-thirds of 48North's shareholders, and that of the relevant regulatory authorities.
The deal isn't being greeted all that warmly by HEXO stockholders, though. The company's shares fell by nearly 0.7% Monday, against the S&P 500's 0.3% slip.
