ECS Botanics has secured a A$2 million loan facility from National Australia Bank and agreed to sell its hemp food and wellness business to Ecofibre subsidiary Ananda Food for $250,000.

The sale is expected to complete in August subject to due diligence.

ECS Botanics managing director Nan-Maree Schoerie

The moves come after ECS unveiled a major strategic shift in June with the proposed sale of its Tasmanian operation and the hemp food and wellness division to focus on medicinal cannabis production at its Victorian facility.

The firm said the Tasmanian facility has received “a high level of interest” via agent CBRE, with non-dilutive funds from the sales and the loan used to expand medicinal cannabis production.

Managing Director Nan-Maree Schoerie said the company has been building capacity at its Victorian facility in order to meet demand, with the addition of four GMP drying rooms, a new propagation room and warehouse and 2,100sqm of extra protective cropping enclosures.

She added: “The company is about to commence the stage three expansion which will look to double the secure cultivation area and the installation of more protective cropping capacity leveraging the available funds.” 

Meanwhile, ECS has reported quarterly receipts from customers of $2.25m, up 86% on the previous quarter. Full-year receipts were just over $6m, 307% up on FY21.

Net cash used in operating activities was $782k, down 50% on the previous quarter.

Prior to launching Cannabiz, Martin was co-founder and CEO of Asia-Pac’s leading B2B media and marketing information brand Mumbrella, overseeing its sale to Diversified Communications in 2017. A journalist...

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