Valens Secures CA$40M Via Credit Facility, Builds Australia Enterprise

Canadian CBD company Valens GroWorks Corp. VLNS VLNCF confirmed Monday it has secured up to CA$40 million (US$29 million) in financing via syndicated credit facility.

The agreement between the Kelowna, British Columbia-based company, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and ATB Financial will last three years.

The credit facility includes CA$20 million of secured term loan and CA$20 million of secured revolving loan. Under the deal, Valens is granted up to an additional CA$10 million if it decides to raise aggregate commitments.

"With our enhanced balance sheet, we are well positioned to continue to expand our innovative product portfolio, build out our custom manufacturing platform, be opportunistic in a consolidating market and maximize capital allocation to generate the highest return on invested capital for our shareholders," said Valens CEO Tyler Robson in a statement.

The company said it would utilize funds for expansion of its operations and corporate strategy development.

Earlier this year, Valens has teamed up with Iconic Brewing' subsidiary to launch a cannabis-infused beverage line.

Under a white-label deal, which will last five years, the company and A1 Cannabis agreed to manufacture a minimum of 2.5 million cannabis-infused beverages.

The Intercontinental Expansion

Meanwhile, Valens is already enhancing its footprint in Australia.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the company will fund the construction of a medicinal cannabis plant spanning 4500 square meters.

Cannvalate, an Australian distributor of medicinal cannabis, agreed to manage the project worth $50 million.

The contract manufacturing and extraction facility - owned and operated by Valens - will be built somewhere in Melbourne's south-east in the vicinity of cannabis cultivation sites. Its exact location remains undisclosed.

The deadline for the construction of the facility is in mid-2021, while initial works are scheduled to start before September.

"It's going to be the biggest manufacturing plant in Australia, probably by a factor of at least five times," disclosed Cannvalate chief executive Sud Agarwal. "So it's going to completely change the dynamic of cannabis extraction and cannabis manufacturing."

The partnership between Cannvalate and Valens is not a lone case. The cannabis oriented provider of B2B end-to-end solutions has a history of cooperation with Canadian cannabis companies.

In March, biopharmaceutical company Avicanna Inc. AVCN AVCNF has inked importation and distribution deal with Cannvalate.

The agreement allowed the Ontario-based company to reach Australian patients.