Irwin Simon, the CEO of Canadian cannabis company Aphria, is looking for additional opportunities to acquire brands in consumer products, hoping to grow beyond cannabis alone.
“There are many options in the US right now with food and drink and other consumer products, and I know how to build consumer brands and apply that in cannabis once legalization takes place,” Simon said in an interview on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” Monday.
Simon previously founded the consumer products company Hain Celestial Group, which specializes in natural and organic food, beverages and personal care items. He stayed with the company for more than 25 years, where he acted as CEO and Chairman.
“I didn’t know when [cannabis] legalization is taking place in the US, I want to continue to acquire certain companies like Sweetwater, like a Manitoba Harvest, that can play in the cannabis world if legalization happens with big margins, great growth and great distribution for us, “said Simon.
The company acquired Sweetwater, an independent craft brewer in the US, in November. A month later, Aphria announced its plans to merge with another Canadian cannabis company, Tilray, along with its hemp consumer product brand Manitoba Harvest, to form the largest cannabis company by revenue.
Shares of the company closed 14% to $ 13.95 on Monday, after the company reported that blocking the coronavirus in parts of Canada and Germany adversely affected sales of its products in the fiscal third quarter. Sales plummeted from the second quarter to the third quarter, but were higher year-on-year.
For the three months ended February 28, Aphria reported a net loss of $ 361 million Canadian dollars on sales of $ 153.6 million Canadian dollars.
“In the US, we had a solid first full quarter contribution from Sweetwater, even with lower on-premise sales compared to the same quarter last year, as many food service outlets were still operating with limited capacity,” Simon said in a release.
Aphria shareholders will vote on the Tilray deal on Wednesday. Tilray shares closed at $ 17.19 on Monday, down 13%.