Well... retailers by proxy of Jason Wright of the ASX Med Cannibis investors FB site. Jason, the site admin and creator, took questions from punters and met with Roby Zomer, CEO of MGC pharma, last Friday in Perth. Highly recommend joining if you have not done so already: disallowedlink1022728391196179/
See below his recap of the meet up:A Recap of my Meeting with Roby Zomer from #MXC.asx (MGC Pharmaceuticals).
As I mentioned last week, Roby touched base with me a few weeks ago, letting me know he will be in Perth for 3 days and that he would be happy to sit down with me and discuss a few things and answer any questions I had.
I will say tho, this meeting was more for my self and being able to close the door on any bad blood after what happened with Ross Smith and this all took up most of our meeting.
I am happy to explain to new members in the comments if needed but it is in the past.
I requested that we meet at a pub in the city as that is where I am comfortable and the one I chose, I enjoy going to as they cut the beer froth with a knife which i think is a fancy touch and Roby requested if he could leave his suit at the hotel for a more casual meeting which I thought was great. Most of my suits growing up were for court
(no criminal convictions thank you very much) so I didn't really want to feel like I was talking to my lawyer.
Someone asked before hand if this is kind of a big deal, and I guess I played it down as I actually didn't think it was after past experiences with the company and I guess my care levels after feeling completely played by people connected to the company, which is a long story in its self from early origins of the group.
But in the closing minutes I am happy to admit I did become quite nervous and realised while talking to a few corporates on the phone or in passing, I really had not sat down properly before with someone from the industry and quickly became more interested in the conversation then writing down notes, which now I realise with the noise of Friday afternoon tradies with where i chose, made it hard to conduct a proper interview.
For the people who made the effort to ask a question i'll try my best to touch on them below, do understand, this is wrote in my own words and not a word for word correspondence so do make of it what you will and maybe in the future I can work on a proper recorded interview as i give options a further thought. Also understand ASX rules in disclosing info so not all questions can be answered into the detail others can.In regards to Malta, now with funds raised construction is underway, the timeline to being fully operational is currently still 18-24 months away. This will fall in the line with the key terms announced recently with buildings to be erected no later then 18 months since receiving permits.
Currently the MXC Malta facility is the biggest operation out of all other companies with interest there and I can confirm Roby has very strong relations with the government for his own humanitarian work there over the years which I was actually really impressed with.
Revenue projections will be included in the near future, most likely when the prospectus comes out for the LSE listing.
In regards to Nativ, he has been Full time stationed in Malta as the GM and this is where his focus will continue in building and overseeing the construction process.
In regards to the funding of Malta, which will definitely cost more then the company can cough up, Roby was very confident that they would have sufficient funding through the up coming London Stock Exchange listing, with Cannacord to lead and raise in house in the UK.
I thought I would ask about the LSE listing, as I have not really seen any benefit from the OTCQB listing, in which Roby confirmed that that listing really does not hold much value and the exchange is familiar to buying BINGO tickets.
MXC is not up for sale, when I asked, Roby responded with who is going to buy us? Also when asked about possible JV options for funding this was just another HC rumour. It wont be needed.The LSE listing, will actually be the first Medical Cannabis/Pharma company available to purchase for those living in the UK on the exchange, and with tight regulations to be listed, is a key reason why MXC has been working towards moving into a straight Pharma/medical play rather then focusing on a recreational market and deals there which is heavily restricted.
This will benefit MXC holders as there is little opportunity for arbitrage across multiple listings. If the share price rises there, it will also rise on the ASX. I guess this is part of each individuals decision to decide whether you think a MC Pharma company will be heavily in demand by UK investors. I do see big value in this listing after talking and understanding the weight it holds with Cannacord involved.
For those interested, the recent raise WILL be the last that Bretts firm Cheiftan securities participate in with MXC.
Bretts role is strictly to be MXC focused and offer shareholders no conflict of interest situations.In regards to Australia legalising Adult use recreationally, the reaction i got was not very hopeful. Roby did not project a timeline and said if it was to come to fruition, then the real key is constant public pressure to the powers above. Those that want it, really need to do as others do and hound MP's and apply the pressure on social media.
He said that education is still very much where the barrier is and decriminalisation is the first step down that path.
I must say, I am a lot less confident on progress in that feild and in hearing Roby's thoughts has me thinking it is actually more IF rather then WHEN.
Roby had a very different tone in regards to legislation changes towards Full Spectrum and CBD Isolate products and felt there will be a turning point soon in Australia and to capitalise on this with a cost effective medicine. A focus on medical aspects and being a straight Pharma play rather then catering to the recreational market.Research has very much increased recently for MXC, this is very much part of the Seed to Pharmacy/Pharma/Medical transition. With the products they have and have to come, to get them to market research and as we are seeing now clinical studies are the only way forward.
Roby said in response to how will they leverage the final results, with proven results the end game is to improve and have a cost effective medicine.
While it may look like the current portfolio is all over the place, this is actually part and parcel of building a global company and the direction the company is now taking.We began to ran out of time when I asked about Cannaglobal and the time it took to get a valuation to market. Roby did spend some time explaining Cannaglobal Before I took notes and I was a little surprised to see his facial expressions change to very excited to just be talking about Lorne and the things he has put together. I feel like there is a very big respect there from Roby and being part of the industry so I take that as refreshing in authenticity and the future.
But plain and simple, Lorne is very protective of his business. He has had numerous plans stolen from under him and has obviously learnt his own lessons in success.
Being privately owned they have no need to disclose any details, and a true valuation is even harder to obtain.
Personally IMO, I think the valuation does no favours being known right now so I guess I agree on letting it play out.
I can confirm, Lorne still has plans to bring CG to the public markets, but not until everything is ready and then MXC will see a big upside.
There is plenty of residual potential for MXC from the Derma sale, the biggest being the exclusive CBD supply deal over the next 5 years. Which Roby was confident is worth much more then holding onto Derma, while allowing them to continue the move into a straight medical/pharma company.Varm Cosmo remains tied up in the UK courts. Roby really could not give me any more information on this other then VC has ceased all communication with MXC once legal proceedings begun.
One thing I will say i learnt from this is, Ross played a big part in this deal that he did not disclose to me. This was the deal with him as a MXC advisor that would release millions of dollars in Performance Shares and why everything stank so much to us. It was also the downfall for the company.I think the public pressure put on to VC and rumour mill at HotCopper with many shareholders msging and questioning authenticity scared VC off on going ahead more then anything and I don't think everything was above board on their side clearly with a side agendaand Disallowed salesman ross in an ear .
Once that fell through, the rest has been history and the fall out with Ross and dummy spit with being removed completely from the company very real which has effected all shareholders in his stubbornness and knowledge of the market.
The company most likely would have written it off, but felt the need from shareholder pressure to follow through with this court action, so now it is an ongoing expense and no timeline across multiple court rooms.Yu shop trial sales have been progressing really well, Roby is looking forward to the market being updated on this in the upcoming September quarterly on furthermore.
The Malta operation and expansion is where the cost effective medicine and seed to pharmacy pipeline is expected to be their best path to cost effective, more affordable medicine.
Roby did note tho, that impressively their current products are actually the most affordable on the market. This puts them with a cheaper product then GW Pharma and the likes of.In talks of share price performance, there really is not much control they personally have on that, Roby himself, while he has bought shares in the company along with the ones earnt by performance, he still only holds 3% of the company and has actually never sold a share.
My opinion is many are able to see the manipulation in share prices across many stocks these days, and Roby agreed, MXC is no different and he has little doubt that the likes of Ross may still be manipulating things which was my guess.For his own gain, and to continue hurting shareholder sentiment.
He has provided the ASX with documents recently with Ross threatening to conduct this behaviour leading into his termination.
Given how many shares are currently on issue this is a very hard thing to stop in general, and Roby agreed that possibly the best option to fix this and the best thing for the company will be a share consolidation/split.
I do respect that he admitted that was an option as others with a big future of plans but billions of SOI provide false hope by not addressing it.
I don't see this as a happening next week option, but maybe before Malta is complete after the LSE dilution.
The groundwork is being put in currently to build investor confidence with Roby spending the last 3 weeks traveling across all networks of their global business and checking in with people and making his face known and input heard.
He has plans to have an open room meet and greet with all interested shareholders in the near future which is not such a corporate process compared to say an AGM meeting.In regards to the Brett and keeping his job comments. I don't think it is professional for Roby to shit on his collegue. Its not Australian in my books. But we did discuss it as like anything, there is always 2 sides to a story and this was a big part of my closure.
While I do not excuse the damage from the private convo leaks and fact is, majority of what things Brett said were more directed at me then all shareholders. I knew this, and it's why I held so much anger and allowed people to vent their own frustrations as it made me laugh, and feel better, and thank you to those who felt the need to defend.
What people need to understand is Ross was playing me, and them at the same time.
Brett was not a member of the group at the time and Ross would send him snippets of what people would say in here, or he would bait me in private and when he got a reaction knowing I call it how I see it, would send that part to Brett.
On every side of the fence, he is creating the narrative to suit him and he tried to do the same with the way he presented the leaks
This weekend reflecting on how manipulated I had been by Ross, I think for the first time I put my self in Bretts shoes, only because I know how I react when I see someone talk shit about me or even the group in general... People would be horrified how I talk when poked.
Ross tried to ruin them all, family life and all. Calling 2 girls hookers, who were actually Roby's friends of 10years and innocent people.
It's up to us all to choose what offends us and I have had to listen to many in here with wise words to drop being angry. I have been called and disrespected worse, is it morally wrong and deserved an apology? Most likely, is it worth owning? I don't think so. I am going to try sit down with Brett at some point and seek to resolve the issue as I feel we both owe each other an apology for comments made.
For me, I am going to try learn from it and try conduct my self in a more professional manner when it comes to talking about people in the industry and not be so bitter.
To keep his job, someone in the company needs to know how the ASX public system runs and deal with that side of things and Brett does know this inside out and Roby still believes is the best man for the job.
As a shareholder, only uyou have the option to vote someone out..
As an investor that is an each to own decision on moving on, unless voted out then the board will stay the same.
Talking about the increase in their termination package by $200k, Roby said this pretty much is what it is.
The board felt that if they are terminated before the timeline of their plans to come together then this is compensation. Covers a small amount of what possibly could have been.I really should have wrote this down better so I am not going to go into it at the risk of misquoting but when you brake it down for Robys Salary, he is taxed at around 47% of that income and their own benefit contributions, in his pocket is much much less then people think but is well aware that the expenses add up.
I also was able to probe Roby a little bit more on their recent high THC strain discovery that I simply was not a believer of. After seeing the lab results first hand I can confirm they very well might be onto something, and once they have the genetics stable with consistent readings then it really should be ground breaking with one round of results showing a 41% THC flower.
I do know someone who had a similar result from a lab test, but he did say depending on how cured the flower is and its density all have an impact on results.
This flower is going to be used for medical purposes and for the time being not destined for a rec market, and I think until I have tried it my self or see multiple independent results with the same data I will be skeptical, but on face value I was given no reason to think this wont be proven as Roby agreed this has flown over the markets head in importance.My last question was more a spur of the moment one, which was how do I go about generating some money and making the time I put into the group possibly worth it, and I was pleased to hear it is maybe something that could be worked out in the near future as I had a small idea but no real clue how to make it happen or even if companies would be interested in paying for sponsorship or a form of promotion and assumed being vocal would have burned most bridges by now.
Its something I will give more thought to and most likely put it to you all first for a public opinion, if members don't want to see it or me chasing some money then I wont give it any more thought. Might even tackle my fear of being on camera and do some actual interviews and bring them exclusively to the group.All in all, hearing the other side to things was something I needed to hear to stop holding onto this anger and feeling of being played that has carried on for 12 months now. While I have just been angry at it all, Roby has actually been dealing with threats from Ross on his safety to the point that Roby has also taken legal action against Ross and is confident the next we hear of him will be a jail sentence in NZ.
I want to think that our meeting was genuine, I have thought that before and been wrong so naturally my guard is still up.
But if I want to keep moving forward and achieve my own goals then I am only burning my own possible bridges being angry at an industry I want to support from one bad experience with a manipulative psychopath in my first 12 months of starting this group.
The only thing I have to pick on from the meeting was Roby having to leave and not finishing his beer, now theres something that should be criminal!Do note, I am writing this just to share my experience and relay the answers to some members questions, I am sorry I wasnt really well organised in that department but I learnt a lot for future ideas.
This is not commissioned or sponsored content, I hold no shares and have no buy or sell recommendation.
I might buy some once the placement is complete leading into LSE listing but I also have no interest in going through a share consolidation in the future, would rather hop back in once completed or options are on the table. There is a lot more value in it for those with a 5 year vision tho.I started this about 4 hours ago, so if you read it all, thank you, If I was more confident I would have done it as a video but we will see what the future holds and tackle that fear.
Hopefully there is some value to shareholders and over the next few months a change in sentiment is shown with share price value included.Finally if Woof Smith is reading, I really hope you get your karma. Jail is not the place you want to be having to watch your back.
