One of Africa’s first Cannabis focused SPAC

One of Africa’s first Cannabis focused SPAC, Cilo Cybin Holdings Limited, has launched its initial public offering (IPO) and is expected to list on the Johannesburg stock exchange (JSE).

A SPAC or Special Purpose Acquisition Company is a special acquisition company that deals with mergers and acquisitions with existing companies. The cannabis market is set to reach $30 billion by the year 2025, and the global movement has reached South Africa. Over 30 000 EasyEquities investors are invested in Cannabis stocks.

The aim of this SPAC is to acquire and invest in businesses local and globally in the biotech, biohacking, or pharmaceutical sectors. Cilo Cybin is to participate in various industries that include biotech, cannabis, psychedelics, biohacking, wearable devices, and custom nutrition. Reliable statistics and projections detailed in the Cilo Cybin Prospectus highlight the exceptional global growth potential of each of these industries.

The company positions itself as a disruptive international health solutions company that focuses on an individual’s wellness, performance, and longevity goals. This is guided by and underpinned by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that will collect, analyse, interpret, and produce diagnosis and treatment suggestions from all the data generated by the ‘eco system.

Cilo Cybin’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) opened on Monday, 12 September and closes on Friday, 4 November. The IPO aims to raise a minimum of R500 million up to R2 billion.

While acquisition of viable assets are not limited to a particular industry or geographic region, locally or internationally, the company expects to acquire a controlling interest in the cannabis industry in South Africa. Gabriel Theron, Founder and CEO of Cilo Cybin says the first step of the plan is to acquire (through the form of a share swop not utilising funds raised) an existing cannabis manufacturing facility and to super-size its capacity. "We want to position ourselves as one of the largest processing hubs for the cannabis industry in Africa" says Theron. The target is Cilo Cybin Pharmaceutical Proprietary Limited (CCP), a facility in Centurion that has the capacity to produce about R150m worth of cannabis and vaping products a month.

Theron is also the founder and main shareholder of CCP, the first in South Africa to have both cultivation and manufacturing licences from the regulator in South Africa, SAPHRA. He emphasizes the importance of CCP being the only company in Africa that is allowed to cultivate and manufacture an API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingedient) oil under GMP (Good Manufacturing Process) as well as final labeled cannabis products. "This is unique and a great differentiater for CCP as the only complete vertically integrated cannabis company in Africa"

Cannabis is not the only growth industry Cilo Cybin has identified as a viable asset. "Acquisitions of companies that test brain health and genetics will then be considered" says Theron. A further key objective include plans to explore manufacturing options for products of psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms from which the company takes its name.

A confident Theron says the SPAC will allow Cilo Cybin to acquire, partner and deploy uniquely positioned, individualised health solutions on a global scale and in a short period of time. "This is an exceptional opportunity for both institutional and private investors to participate in and benefit from Cilo Cybin's combined offering aimed at improving profitability and thereby maximising shareholder return."

If you’d like to participate in this IPO and get in on the ground floor before this share lists on the JSE on Monday 14 November 2022, simply log in to your EasyEquities account and navigate to New Listings on the top left menu.

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