Ann: Investor Update March/April 2019, page-76

The below article is in mergermarket today.....Europe next and potentially the largest territory for the business in the future Elixinol ‘actively evaluating’ potential buys and JVs to expand global reach, CEO says

Elixinol Global [ASX:EXL, OTCQX:ELLXF], a Sydney, Australia-based hemp and cannabis company, is "actively evaluating opportunities” to vertically or horizontally integrate through bolt-ons and JVs to accelerate its international growth, said Paul Benhaim, CEO. "We have opportunities that come our way on a nearly daily basis and we can eliminate about 90% of them in a few seconds, because of our years of experience in this industry," Benhaim said last week on the sidelines of the NoCo Hemp Expo in Denver. He said its interest in making buys goes beyond the company's fiduciary duty as it looks to accelerate growth faster than it can grow organically, noting that the company has an unspecified "pot of revenue put aside for M&A." In May 2018, Benhaim told this news service that Elixinol could look for bolt-ons and JVs to grow in Australia and Asia-Pacific down the line. At the NoCo show, he expanded that interest to Europe, which he thinks could quickly become its No. 2 market, behind the US, and potentially could grow to its top market. Elixinol Global formed in January 2018 with the merger of Colorado-based Elixinol, Hemp Foods Australia and Elixinol Australia (now known as Nunyara). It listed on the ASX the same month with a market cap of nearly AUD 103m. It now has a market cap of AUD 610m (about USD 434m). Benhaim said the company had been focused on operations and execution over the past year, particularly in new markets, which limited its ability to dedicate time to M&A. But it did spend AUD 2.2m to increase its increase its stake in a restructured Japanese CBD and hemp foods business, now known as Elixinol Japan, to 50.5%. Exinol Global's subsidiaries previously owned 25% of one entity and 10% of another that were folded into the new Elixinol Japan. Benhaim said in the May 2018 interview that the company was looking at a long-term US listing and in September, it started trading on the OTCQX. At the NoCo show, he said the company was talking to advisors about a possible uplisting to the NASDAQ or another larger exchange. He noted that Elixinol shares trade at a higher volume OTC than on the ASX and called a recent tour of US financial centers encouraging, though he said no decision has been made yet about whether to uplist. Elixinol Global offers hemp-derived CBD dietary supplements, hemp food and wellness products, and cultivation and manufacture of medicinal cannabis products. It posted AUD 37.1m in revenue in FY18, up 121% from the previous year, and EBITDA of AUD 0.7m, up from breaking even in FY17. It had net cash of AUD 42.7m on the balance sheet as of 31 December. by Nate Trela in Denver