Aphria Inc., a global cannabis company inspiring and empowering the worldwide community to live their very best life, announced it has closed the accretive, strategic acquisition of SW Brewing Company, LLC, one of the largest independent craft brewers in the United States based on volume. Beginning with the flagship 420 beverage offerings, SweetWater has created an award-winning lineup of year-round, seasonal and specialty beers, a portfolio of brands closely aligned with a cannabis lifestyle.
“We are excited to take this significant step forward to build upon our existing foundation in cannabis with the acquisition of SweetWater and their complementary cannabis lifestyle brands. Together, our company will further diversify our product offering, broaden our consumer reach and enhance loyalty with consumers,” said Irwin D. Simon, Aphria Inc.’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are very pleased to welcome Freddy Bensch to our management team and the entire SweetWater organization to the Aphria family. We look forward to expanding our addressable market and leveraging SweetWater’s existing infrastructure to accelerate Aphria’s entry into the U.S. ahead of federal legalization of cannabis to fuel sustainable profitable growth.”
As part of the Acquisition, unitholders of SweetWater received USD $250 million in cash and USD $50 million in Aphria stock at closing. Aphria financed the cash component of the purchase price under the Agreement through available cash on hand, including the recently raised funds under its At-the-Market equity program. Jefferies LLC served as financial advisor and DLA Piper LLP (U.S.) and Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP (Canada) acted as legal counsel to Aphria. Arlington Capital Advisors served as financial advisor and Winston & Strawn LLP acted as legal counsel to SweetWater.
Aphria Inc. is headquartered in Leamington, Ontario – the greenhouse capital of Canada – Aphria Inc. has been setting the standard for the low-cost production of high-quality cannabis at scale, grown in the most natural conditions possible. For more information, visit: aphriainc.com
