2 Canadian cannabis production companies settle legal dispute

Two Canadian companies that formed a joint venture to sell hemp and marijuana have settled a legal dispute over which owned more of the business they created.

Village Farms International and Emerald Health Therapeutics on Tuesday announced the settlement, which stipulates that Village Farms will own 57.4 % of Pure Sunfarms Corp., the venture they created to sell products in Canada.

Village Farms is one of North America’s largest producers of greenhouse tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers. The company is in the process of transforming to capitalize on the Canadian marijuana market and the U.S. hemp and CBD market.

Emerald Health is a marijuana producer.

When the companies formed Pure Sunfarms, each owned half the company. Village Farms provided the grow space and equipment, and Emerald contributed money.

But late last year, the agreement broke down.

Terms of the settlement include:

• Emerald will not invest the nearly CA$6 million ($4.5 million) it had planned into Pure Sunfarms, giving Village Farms a majority stake in the company.
• Emerald will drop its claim that Pure Sunfarms owed it CA$13 million in a shareholder loan.

Village Farms trades as VFF on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq.

More details about the settlement are available here.