Elixinol buys 25% stake in Pet Releaf CBD brand

Elixinol has purchased a 25% stake in Altmeds, the manufacturer of hemp-derived CBD pet health brand Pet Releaf.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Denver-based Altmeds already gets its CBD from Elixinol, a Colorado producer of hemp-derived CBD extract.

The Altmeds investment allows Elixinol to gain a foothold in the growing CBD pet-products market.

Pet Releaf products currently sell in more than 4,000 independent pet stores in the United States and abroad.

The employee-owned company says it will use the Elixinol investment to expand the Pet Releaf brand, including hiring more employees and building a 25,000-square-foot production facility.

Elixinol is the exclusive supplier of hemp extract from a U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified organic hemp strain grown specifically for Pet Releaf.

The two companies have collaborated since they were established in 2014.

After Elixinol gains an equity interest, the company’s president, Gabriel Ettenson, will join the Pet Releaf board.

“This deal strengthens our supply arrangements and mutual and synergistic distribution networks,” Ettenson said.

Elixinol’s parent company, Elixinol Global, trades on the Australian Securities Exchange as EXL and on U.S. over-the counter-markets as ELLXF.