Press Release: Hollister Biosciences Inc. Announces strategic initiatives including a planned rebrand, executive and board updates

Hollister Biosciences Inc. Announces strategic initiatives including a planned rebrand, executive and board updates

Canada NewsWire

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 12, 2021

-- Jake Cohen appointed as CEO -- Eula Adams, MBA, CPA appointed as Interim CFO and a nominated Board Member -- Chris Lund appointed as Chief Commercial officer -- Corporate rebrand initiated -- Operations enhancements internalizing finance, administration and marketing -- Appointment of new board members

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 12, 2021 /CNW/ - Hollister Biosciences Inc. (CSE: HOLL) (OTC: HSTRF) (FRANKFURT: HOB) (the "Company", "Hollister Cannabis Co." or "Hollister") is pleased to announce a series of operational and strategic updates to create shareholder value, enhance; governance, operations and market positioning while preparing the Company for the next phase of its growth.

Background

In November 2019, the Company completed its initial public offering and listed its shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange. At the time of the offering, Hollister was pre-revenue; its business plan was focused on the California market, it was an ambitious start-up in an emerging industry. The Company launched with administration and management primarily consisting of third party providers to enable focus on the rapid advancement of its operational and financial objectives while keeping costs in line with capitalization and profitability goals.

In March 2020, the Company completed its acquisition of Labtronix, Inc. d/b/a Venom Extracts ("Venom Extracts") which transformed the Company into a multi-state operator and substantially enhanced its revenue, capabilities and reach. Hollister has since transformed from its pre-revenue position in late 2019 into a profitable multi-state cannabis operator. The Company has garnered a leadership position and deep penetration in a high growth limited market. The Company is among the leaders in operational efficiency, return on invested capital and has built a platform designed to scale. Most recently, the company announced revenue guidance for 2021, a Brand Campus to enhance its presence and profitability in Arizona, and two new members to the Board of Directors (the "Board") as catalysts to lead the next phase of growth. The Company has a strong balance sheet with approximately US$12 million in working capital and no long term debt.

In advance of the upcoming annual general and special meeting of shareholders (the "AGM"), the Company has made a number of strategic enhancements to align governance, leadership, operations, management and infrastructure with its refocused strategy. The refocused corporate and brand strategy is primarily centered on the growth and distribution of owned and partner brands into new states and product categories.

"We plan to internalize functions that were previously outsourced including; communications, finance, accounting, management, investor relations, public relations, marketing, sales and strategy. Building internal capabilities for these functions will enable us to effectively communicate with stakeholders and market influencers, enhance governance and accelerate growth." said Jakob Ripshtein, Chairman of the Board.

Brand and Communications Strategy

The Company has initiated a rebrand, including seeking a new corporate name and visual identity. The brand is being created to represent a focused vision towards becoming a leading house of brands with a mission to empower consumers with access and a variety of trusted cannabis packaged goods. The Company is planning a robust marketing and communications strategy to increase awareness throughout the investor community and for increased distribution of products and brands.

"As Chairman of the Board, I am pleased to announce the "house of brands" focused strategy and enhanced marketing efforts. I have a long history working in similar environments in the cannabis and the spirits industry during my time with Aphria (now Tilray) and Diageo. We possess the attributes of a leading player; profitable, low operating costs, strong balance sheet and hold extensive capabilities and brand equity in high growth categories. I look forward to accelerating the expansion of our owned and partner brands throughout the U.S. and eventually globally" said Jakob Ripshtein.

Executive Updates

Chief Executive Officer

Effective immediately, Carl Saling has resigned as Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company and has been appointed Senior Advisor to the Board. The Company thanks Carl for his leadership and vision and looks forward to his continued participation and friendship with the Company.

Jake Cohen, the Chief Operations Officer of the Company has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board effective immediately. Jake is the founder of Venom Extracts, one of the industry's premier award-winning cannabis concentrate brands. Venom Extracts sales were consolidated with Hollister's sales starting after the closing in March 2020 and contributed approximately 95% of the Company's overall sales. Venom Extracts' product suite is a category leader in Arizona with over 4 million grams of cannabis sold in 2020, accounting for up to 30% of category sales state-wide (per BDS Analytics). Venom Extracts has strong brand recognition and distribution, with products in the vast majority of dispensaries in Arizona.

"I'm humbled and excited to take on this challenge. I have great respect and admiration for Carl as an individual and business leader. He IPO'd Hollister at a very challenging time in the public markets, managed expenses unlike any other public company I've seen, and ensured the platform was capitalized and had a team ready for rapid growth. Since the acquisition of Venom Extracts, Carl has been invaluable to the growth of both Venom Extracts and myself individually - I'm proud to now take the torch and execute the strategy going forward. I look forward to Carl's continued support as an advisor, he's done a great job preparing for the evolution of the Company" said Jake Cohen, Chief Executive Officer of Hollister.

"This is an exciting time for me as a founder. I've seen the transformation of an idea that started at my family's kitchen table develop into a leading multi-state cannabis company going from no sales in 2019 to USD$70 million projected for 2021. Over the course of several months we have been preparing for these changes, and I'm pleased to have recruited the team that will lead its next phase, most notably with "passing the baton" to Jake Cohen. While supporting Venom Extracts' growth, Jake and I had the opportunity to work closely. Throughout my 30 years in business I've worked with many great entrepreneurs, none have the tenacity, drive and natural capabilities that I've seen in Jake. He is a winner and I look forward to continuing to support him in my new role as senior advisor" said Carl Saling, former Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

Chief Financial Officer

Eula Adams, MBA, CPA has been appointed as Interim Chief Financial Officer effective immediately and will be nominated for election at the AGM to serve as a member of the Board. In conjunction with his appointment, Mr. Adams plans to temporarily relocate to Phoenix to ready the financial and operational systems of the Company for expansion. As a priority, Mr. Adams will oversee recruiting a permanent Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer for the Company.

Eula has had a highly accomplished career spanning five decades across a variety of industries serving public, private, government and philanthropic causes. He has an extensive history in executive leadership and governance roles of large, diverse organizations. Most recently, Eula served as a member of the board of directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee for Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. from December of 2019 through the recent completion of its acquisition by Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (CSE:TRUL), which formed the world's largest legal seller of cannabis by revenue.

Eula is a graduate of Morris Brown College with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting, a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, and is a Certified Public Accountant. He spent 20 years with Deloitte (Public Accounting, Taxation and Management Consulting), was the former Executive Vice President of First Data Corporation (Payments and Money Transfer); the former Senior Vice President of Sun Microsystems (Computer Servers, Storage Devices, Software and Services); and a former member of board of directors of MasterCard (U.S. Region). His corporate rise led him to be named one of the 50 most powerful black executives by Fortune in July of 2002.

He serves a number of public sector and non-profit positions and his memberships include: American Institute of CPAs; White House Historical Association National Council; Colorado Society of CPAs; United Way of Colorado; Board of Directors Grow Generation; Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity; CareerWise Colorado Board; Volunteers of America Board; Denver International Airport Advisory Board; Colorado Department of Transportation; and New Hope Baptist Church Board of Trustees.

Chief Commercial Officer

Mr Chris Lund has been appointed as the Chief Commercial Officer of the Company effective immediately. He will lead all communications, sales, marketing and branding for the Company and its subsidiaries. As his first initiative, Chris will oversee the rebrand and prepare a strategy for owned and partner brand expansion.

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October 12, 2021 08:00 ET (12:00 GMT)