Fire & Flower strategically positioned to expand its geographical footprint through the industry’s first full cannabis consumer technology platform
TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2022 /CNW/ – Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. (“Fire & Flower” or the “Company”) (TSX: FAF) (OTCQX: FFLWF), a leading, technology-powered, cannabis retailer, today announced the Company has completed the acquisition of Pineapple Express Delivery Inc. (“Pineapple Express Delivery” or “PED”), a leading logistics technology company offering compliant and secure delivery services for controlled substances and regulated products, including transportation and delivery of medical and recreational products in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and liquor products in Saskatchewan. The acquisition of Pineapple Express Delivery provides Fire & Flower with the final component to execute upon its strategy of offering a full consumer technology platform to the cannabis industry.
PED is widely recognized throughout the cannabis industry as the largest player in the cannabis delivery space, completing more than 40,000 deliveries per month to recreational and medical cannabis customers across Canada. Through this strategic acquisition, Fire & Flower has completed its proprietary technology stack to deliver a seamless customer experience by combining its technology-driven retail network of over 100 stores across North America with this newly acquired, best-in-class cannabis fulfillment and delivery service.
The acquisition of Pineapple Express Delivery marks the final step in building, what we believe to be, the cannabis industry’s first end-to-end consumer technology experience.
Trevor Fencott, Chief Executive Officer of Fire & Flower
With a full omni-channel retail strategy, a data-driven analytics platform, and now same-day, last-mile delivery capabilities, we’ve developed an asset-light technology stack that can support the entire cannabis retail ecosystem, from initial customer acquisition, through product discovery, ultimately ending at the customers’ front door.
“Our Hifyre™ technology powered retail network has quickly driven greater high-margin revenue streams for Fire & Flower and the inclusion of Canada’s largest cannabis delivery and logistics services strategically supports our business model as we enter new markets utilizing our high-margin, scalable technology infrastructure. We look forward to rolling out our enhanced cannabis technology platform throughout Canada and eventually the U.S. with our strategic partner, Alimentation Couche-Tard, to demonstrate the unparalleled value of this model,” concluded Fencott.
“It is exciting to see the completion of this acquisition and entering the next phase of the Pineapple Express Delivery story. By joining Hifyre and Fire & Flower, PED will continue to build one of the largest cannabis delivery platforms in Canada and the U.S.,” shared Randy Rolph, Founder of PED. “Pineapple Express Delivery will complement the Fire & Flower business model and Hifyre will continue to add meaningful value to the business through its industry-leading technology platform and analytics. We believe this is a winning combination as our companies share an unwavering focus on supporting and empowering businesses, consumers and our communities. Together we will continue to grow and innovate, and this acquisition of Pineapple Express Delivery is a natural and timely fit given our broader expansion strategy.”
As consideration for the purchase of Pineapple Express Delivery, Fire & Flower has assumed and repaid approximately $5.15 million in debt owed by Pineapple Express Delivery and issued a total of 1,153,142 common shares of Fire & Flower (“Common Shares”), of which a total of 313,708 have been released and the remainder have been placed into escrow pending completion of customary working capital adjustments and subject to achievement of certain performance-based milestones in the fiscal 2022 year. Haywood Securities Inc. acted as exclusive financial advisor to Pineapple Express Delivery.
To learn more about Pineapple Express Delivery, visit https://pineappleexpressdelivery.com/.
About Fire & Flower
Fire & Flower is a leading, technology-powered, adult-use cannabis retailer with more than 100 corporate-owned stores in its network. The Company leverages its wholly-owned technology development subsidiary, Hifyre, to continually advance its proprietary retail operations model while also providing additional independent high-margin revenue streams. Fire & Flower guides consumers through the complex world of cannabis through education-focused, best-in-class retailing while the Hifyre digital retail and analytics platform empowers retailers to optimize their connections with consumers. The Company’s leadership team combines extensive experience in the technology, cannabis and retail industries.
Through the strategic investment of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (owner of Circle K convenience stores), the Company has set its sights on global expansion as new cannabis markets emerge and is poised to expand into the United States when permitted through its strategic licensing agreement with Fire & Flower U.S. Holdings upon the occurrence of certain changes to the cannabis regulatory regime.
Fire & Flower is a multi-banner cannabis retail operator that owns and operates the Fire & Flower, Friendly Stranger, Happy Dayz and Hotbox brands. Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. owns all issued and outstanding shares in Fire & Flower Inc. and Friendly Stranger Holdings Corp., licensed cannabis retailers that own and operate cannabis retail stores in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and the Yukon territory.
To learn more about Fire & Flower, visit www.fireandflower.com.
About Pineapple Express Delivery Inc.
The Pineapple Express Delivery management team has over 10 years of experience offering same-day 60-minute delivery services in multiple industries across Canada with a record breaking 40,000 deliveries per month. Pineapple Express Delivery offers a personalized experience for its customers and has established in-depth security and delivery protocols to facilitate same-day delivery of medical and recreational cannabis across the country. Pineapple Express Delivery has been providing a same day delivery option to the legal cannabis industry from October 17, 2018 and has provincial offices set up across Canada. Pineapple Express Delivery is a subsidiary of World-Class Extractions Inc. (CSE: PUMP) (FRA: WCF) (OTCQB: WCEXF). For more information please visit https://pineappleexpressdelivery.com/.
