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Cannabis firm Pure Jamaican acquires assets of Timeless Herbal

Published:Sunday | December 19, 2021 | 12:12 AMKarena Bennett - Business Reporter

Local cannabis company Pure Jamaican Limited has acquired the production and cultivation assets of another cannabis business, Timeless Herbal Care, putting it a step closer to achieving its ambition of becoming the largest supplier of...

Local cannabis company Pure Jamaican Limited has acquired the production and cultivation assets of another cannabis business, Timeless Herbal Care, putting it a step closer to achieving its ambition of becoming the largest supplier of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products in Jamaica.

The value of the acquisition was not disclosed, but Pure Jamaican intends to absorb the Timeless’ production assets, which are mainly used for extraction purposes, into the operation of its pharmaceutical subsidiary, Seven Ten, based in Montego Bay. And the cultivation assets will be put to work at Gi-Life Farms in Westmoreland, which is the cultivation division of Pure Jamaican Limited.

Gi-Life currently cultivates cannabis on eight acres of the 35-acre property but intends to expand production to the entire property. In an advertisement for a farm manager, Pure Jamaican said its plan was to scale up to 135 acres under cultivation, over time. The company plans to export millions of kilogrammes of pharmaceutical and medical cannabis products from Jamaica to markets such as Brazil, Switzerland, and Mexico. The latter country is set to become the world’s largest legal cannabis market, following the passing of a bill to legalise recreational use by people over the age of 18 in January.

Pure Jamaica has also set itself a goal of becoming the largest supplier of cannabinoids and other plant-derived molecules to consumer packaging companies, globally. The acquisition of Timeless’ assets marks the first M&A foray for the Pure Jamaican Group, but it is one of many being planned, the company said, as it positions as a serious player in the industry. Future acquisitions will, however, depend on market conditions.

“We knew the legalising of cannabis in Mexico was coming, and so we’ve been working on building out our infrastructure for the past three years. We already have a very large production capacity under way,” Pure Jamaican CEO Scott Cathcart said in an interview with the Financial Gleaner.

“The Timeless assets that we acquired will increase production of some product lines opportunities, some of which will be for the domestic market and some for export,” he said.

Alongside the additional equipment, the acquisition gives Pure Jamaican licence to the Timeless brand in Jamaica and ownership of the Timeless brand in Brazil, Mexico, and Switzerland.

By January 2022, Pure Jamaican hopes to launch its own branded products and will also come to market with products under the label ‘Respect’ – brands it was developing long before the acquisition of Timeless’ assets.

Pure Jamaican sells cannabis planting material in the form of feminised seeds of various cultivars that have been stabilised and bred for high tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, production in tropical climates.

“We look forward to launching those once we get approval from the Ministry of Health and some other very interesting new products and brands that we will be happy to share at the appropriate time,” Cathcart said.

The increase in capacity from the acquisition of Timeless assets also allows Pure Jamaican to enter co-manufacturing arrangements with other players in the cannabis industry, its first client being Timeless Herbal Care.

“This alliance with Pure Jamaican gives Timeless access to scalable production of pharma-grade cannabis products, including products targeting pain and anxiety,” Timeless’ founder and CEO Courtney Betty said in a joint press release.

It is understood that Timeless Herbal is looking to shift its involvement in the cannabis industry to more formulation and branding as opposed to cultivation and production.

“At this time we would not want to get into the products, but some will be medical cannabis and some will be pharmaceutical cannabis. The Timeless line of products that will be marketing will be under the medical-production line,” Cathcart said.

Pure Jamaican Limited was founded in 2018. The company has been issued Tier 3 cultivation and Tier 2 processing licences by the Cannabis Licensing Authority.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com