Cannabis wholesaler, Always Pure Organics (APO), has completed its acquisition of Belgian cannabis companies, Distribution Legal Hemp (DLH) and NexGen (NG) for £3m.
Funded by existing capital, Scotland-founded and Manchester-headquartered APO takes 100% ownership of the Belgian company.
The British company’s entrepreneurial founder-CEO, Gavin Ogilvie, will helm the enlarged company, and DLH/NexGen’s CEO, Joeri Perneel, will start in a newly created role as APO’s Chief Commercial Officer, whilst retaining a focus on the companies’ activities in the Benelux and French markets.
The acquisition gives APO a strong foothold to build market share in the fast growing CBD industry’s European retail sector.
Over the past two years, both companies have grown incredibly fast. APO has increased staff from six to 62 and in the past year alone grown its revenues 215 percent to a 2021 forecast of £12.6m. Similarly DLH grew 170 percent in the past year.
Gavin Ogilvie, CEO of Always Pure Organics, said: “As part of our ambitious global expansion plans, DLH gives us a brilliant complementary business. Belgium is the first nation in Europe to legalise the use of CBD flower through their existing tobacco substitutes legislation, so by buying DLH we have instantly secured 75% of Belgium’s CBD flower market. It’s likely that France will also seek to regulate the CBD flower through the same legal mechanism before long, and APO will therefore be in a strong strategic position to take full advantage of this new market when it opens.”
DLH’s CEO, Joeri Perneel, said: “Both companies have known each other and worked together for more than two years. The deal is on all levels complementary. DLH/NexGen is the market leader in Belgium within the segment of tobacco substitute and is a pioneer in the segment of wellness. We are only at the beginning of the journey and I’m happy to work with APO to build this new group into a world-class player.”
