Red Light Holland and Creso Pharma Call Off Psilocybin-Cannabis Merger

“Magic mushroom” company Red Light Holland TRIP TRUFF will not be merging with Creso Pharma Limited COPHF, as the companies had previously anticipated.

In June, the two companies signed a definitive agreement to merge into a new company called The HighBrid Lab, which would have combined Red Light Holland’s psilocybin mushrooms business with Creso’s cannabis undertakings.

The proposed merger was expected to increase vertical integration strategies from both companies “from growing, harvesting, packaging, branding and distribution to potential bricks and mortar stores,” including sales of CBD, THC, psilocybin and functional mushroom products, where legally permitted.

The companies decided to call off the deal while remaining “allies in their mission to provide consumers with formerly illicit and functional substances across the world.”

Adam Blumenthal, Creso Pharma's non-executive chairman said the geographic span of the respective businesses made a merger impractical at this time.

“As a result of various impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, including significant travel restrictions, Red Light Holland and Creso Pharma have mutually concluded that the Merger would no longer be in the best interests of their respective shareholders,” according to a press release.

The decision will not affect Creso’s involvement in the psychedelics industry. In July, the company acquired Halucenex Life Sciences, a Canadian psychedelics company working towards obtaining FDA and Health Canada permission to conduct a Phase 2 clinical trial on psilocybin for PTSD.

Lead image by Ilona Szentivanyi. Copyright: Benzinga.