True Leaf looks for fresh start in cannabis market

A Vernon-based cannabis company is not giving up as it works through financial issues.

True Leaf Brands continues a restructuring process after filing for creditor protection earlier this year.

Interim CEO and founder Darcy Bomford said the company has avoided bankruptcy and once they get through this, they hope to start fresh with new capital and less debt.

“We are now working with a new friendly capital group to refinance the company. The next steps are a court-approved process that are designed to settle all outstanding debt so the company can move forward with a clean slate,” Bomford told Vernon Matters.

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He hopes that process can be completed by November.

“If successful, the company will move forward with new capital and with a solid cannabis-focused plan to use the Lumby base site,” Bomford added.

The company started building its True Leaf Campus, an 18,000 square foot facility located on a 40-acre site zoned for the cultivation, processing, and sale of cannabis in Lumby, in March 2018.

Bomford said the downturn in the cannabis market, and an inability to keep raising capital to finance their operation, are the main reasons behind the downfall.

“We had a pretty robust plan and we just couldn’t continue to raise capital to finance that plan. We made a lot of changes internally to reduce costs but we had a lender out of New York that wanted their money back and wasn’t willing to wait longer. So we had to take action to protect ourselves and go through this process. This process allows you to deal with the debt, restructure and move forward.”

Bomford added their facilities in Lumby remain on standby, and they hope to use them for craft and medicinal cannabis products in the future.

“Everybody predicted there was going to be consolidation [in the cannabis market]. COVID obviously didn’t help things, but the companies that emerge from this are going to be stronger than ever and everybody has learned from their mistakes and we’ll be able to carry on. We’d like to thank our local shareholders and community for their patience and support as we move forward.”

Former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt is still the chairman of the True Leaf board of directors.

“We had some resignations after we sold the pet assets, but it’s myself, Mike Harcourt and our CFO, Jennifer Pace [on the board],” Bomford said.

True Leaf sold its pet care division in a deal announced on Aug. 19.

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