DENVER, Nov.
28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dixie Brands, Inc. (“USA Inc.”) and Academy
Explorations Limited are pleased to announce that the companies have completed a
reverse takeover transaction. Pursuant to the RTO transaction,
Academy’s wholly owned subsidiary (“Amalco”) merged with USA Inc., forming a
Delaware-incorporated operating company named Dixie Brands (USA) Inc. (“OpCo”).
Through this amalgamation, OpCo became a wholly owned subsidiary of Academy,
which is a reporting issuer in Ontario. As part of the RTO, Academy changed its
name to Dixie Brands Inc. (“Dixie”) and its officers and directors have
resigned effective as of the RTO. New officers and directors were appointed as
further detailed in the listing statement.
Former
shareholders of USA Inc. were issued a total of 118,137,967 subordinate voting
shares of Dixie. Academy shareholders retained 6,640,301 subordinate voting
shares of Dixie, after giving effect to a 4-for-1 share consolidation approved
by its shareholders earlier this year. Dixie currently has 124,778,269
subordinate voting shares issued and outstanding, as well as 500,000
non-participating voting shares held by Dixie Brands SPV, LLC, a company
controlled by certain members of Dixie’s senior management entitling it to 100
votes per non-participating voting share at any Dixie shareholder meeting.
Dixie also
announced today that its subordinate voting shares are expected to begin
trading on the Canadian Securities Exchangeunder the symbol DIXI.U
on November 29, 2018. A listing statement with information about Dixie and
prepared in accordance with the policies of the CSE has been filed on SEDAR and
is available at www.sedar.com.
Dixie is
currently operating in four states (Colorado, California, Nevada, and Maryland)
and has international distribution and manufacturing partners in Australia and
Canada. Dixie plans to expand into four to six additional states in 2019
through partnerships with licensed and regulated producers in each state.
Already the owner of the largest award-winning, THC-infused product line in the
industry, Dixie has recently expanded its hemp-based offerings by introducing
Aceso Wellness, a human dietary supplement line, and Therabis, a pet food
supplement portfolio, at the end of 2016. These highly regarded products are
available through brick-and-mortar locations and e-commerce in all 50 states,
and internationally.
On October 1,
2018, Dixie closed its Series C fundraising round of approximately US$25
million. The Series C round was originally offered as a non-brokered private
placement for US$20 million. Due to positive investor demand, Dixie increased
the maximum offering amount to US$25 million with board and shareholder
approval. As a result of the capital raised through the Series C financing and
future access to capital in the public markets, Dixie will expand its
controlled manufacturing and distribution footprint throughout the U.S. and
invest in automated production to increase manufacturing scale and efficiency.
Additionally, Dixie will invest in continued product innovation and development
in line with mainstream consumer trends and ever-increasing demand from
wide-ranging demographics.
