CALGARY, Feb. 4, 2019 /CNW/ – High Tide Inc. (“High Tide” or the “Company”) (CSE:HITI) (Frankfurt:2LY) today announced that the Company has entered into a letter of intent (“LOI”) with a winner of one of the 25 opportunities to apply for a licence to operate a cannabis retail store (the “Winner”) as a result of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario’s (the “AGCO”) Expression of Interest Application Lottery conducted on January 11, 2019 (the “Lottery”). The terms of the LOI include, but are not limited to, the acquisition of a minority interest in the Winner and the option to acquire a greater interest in the future. High Tide is greatly looking forward to leveraging its decade of relevant experience to assist the Winner with the establishment and operation of a cannabis retail store in Ontario.
High Tide’s history of selling smoking accessories and cannabis lifestyle products since 2009 made it unique among the industry players offering their expertise to the beneficiaries of the AGCO Lottery. “The Winner was looking for a strong partner and we are grateful that High Tide was selected to help them achieve their goals,” stated Raj Grover, President and Chief Executive Officer of High Tide. “Our vertically-integrated business, large product offering, knowledgeable staff and responsible retail practices have resulted in a dedicated customer base across Canada. Further, the speed at which we have opened our first seven Canna Cabana stores in Alberta, our strategic relationships throughout the dynamic cannabis industry and the added transparency of being a public company all positioned us favourably to partner with the Winner,” added Grover.
Supporting the operation of a cannabis retail store in Canada’s largest province and advising the Winner on the topic of selling recreational cannabis is strategically important to High Tide. Since legalization, the Company has been focused on achieving excellence in the areas of customer education, government relations and stakeholder communications. During that same time, the Company also established a significant commercial presence in Ontario as one of only a few suppliers of smoking accessories to the Ontario Cannabis Store, which is the sole online retailer of recreational cannabis products in the Province of Ontario. High Tide is currently maintaining approximately 20 conditional leases for future locations across Ontario and is targeting having recreational cannabis stores in every province that permits privately-owned retail outlets, as demonstrated by the recently announced signing of letters of intent to acquire two locations in Saskatchewan.