Team:
Steve McKersie, Stephen Cross, Kathleen Ritchie, Hans Schroeder, Christopher Bown, Shelagh Carnegie, Lewis Retik, Bill MacGregor, Laura Gheorghiu, Malya Amghar, Josh Rosen
On October 4, 2018, Molson Coors Canada ("MCC"), the Canadian business unit of Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE: TAP) (TSX: TPX), and HEXO Corp. (TSX: HEXO) announced that they had closed the transaction announced on August 1, 2018, to form a joint venture to pursue opportunities to develop non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused beverages for the Canadian market following legalization.
The joint venture, Truss, is structured as a standalone business with its own board of directors and independent management team. MCC has a 57.5% controlling interest with HEXO holding the remaining 42.5%.
In connection with the closing of the transaction, HEXO issued to MCC 11,500,000 warrants, each of which is exercisable to purchase one common share of HEXO at an exercise price of $6.00 for a period of three years.
Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, MCC is North America's oldest brewer and Canada's second largest brewer by volume, selling approximately one-third of the total Canadian beer market in 2017. HEXO creates and distributes innovative products to serve the Canadian cannabis market and is one of the country's lowest-cost producers.
Gowling WLG advised MCC with respect to the creation of this joint venture with a team that included Stephen McKersie, Josh Rosen and Cara Stoller (corporate/M&A); Stephen Cross and Nicole Nielsen (commercial/IP); Kathleen Ritchie (securities); Hans Schroeder and Christopher Bown (patents); Shelagh Carnegie (trademarks); Lewis Retik (regulatory); Bill MacGregor (immigration); and Laura Gheorghiu and Malya Amghar (tax).