With the announcement of new top management and a plan to get its licensing reinstated, CannTrust Holdings Inc. (TSX: TRST and NYSE: CTST) is hoping to make a recovery from its dark past.
Last September the company’s production licence was suspended by Health Canada following one of the biggest scandals in corporate cannabis to date after it was revealed that CannTrust was allegedly growing in unlicensed rooms and using black market seeds.
Read more: CannTrust says Health Canada has suspended its cannabis sales licence
In a statement released Thursday, the company said it’s submitting documentation to Health Canada that it has completed remediation activities at its Niagara, Ontario facility, in support of the reinstatement of that facility’s licence.
CannTrust said it’s also aiming to complete similar activities at its Vaughan, Ontario facility in the second quarter of this year.
However, the company stated it can give no assurances that any of these licences will be reinstated by Health Canada.
Current CFO Greg Guyatt will be taking the reigns as CEO, according to the release, replacing interim boss Robert Marcovitch who will remain as non-executive chairman of the board.
Guyatt joined CannTrust in February 2019 as CFO. Previously he was the CFO for GreenSpace Brands Inc., a premium natural foods company.
Current VP of finance David Blair is being appointed as the interim CFO, and the company said it’s began a process to find a permanent replacement.
The company reminded readers that it “remains in default of its disclosure obligations under securities legislation, has no meaningful revenues, has terminated or laid-off a significant portion of its workforce, is facing a variety of regulatory investigations, and has significant contingent liabilities in both Canada and the United States, including for potential civil damages and potential criminal, quasi-criminal or administrative penalties and fines, which cannot be reasonably quantified.”
Canadian litigator Marie Henein told BNN Bloomberg this week that she expects a class action lawsuit centred on CannTrust to be certified by an Ontario judge in the next six to eight weeks.
CannTrust reported a cash position of $167 million at the end of January, down from $175 million in December, 2019.
nick@mugglehead.com
@nick_laba
