New Zealand medicinal cannabis company Medical Kiwi has been denied a listing on the NZX while enquiries by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) into its August 2020 crowdfunding campaign continue.

The company, founded and chaired by former Nelson mayor Aldo Miccio, planned to operate a vertically integrated seed-to-sale medical cannabis business.

It launched a PledgeMe campaign last year that aimed to raise up to NZ$3m through equity crowdfunding and wholesale investors.

Medical Kiwi chair Aldo Miccio: planned to operate a vertically integrated seed-to-sale medical cannabis business

However, NZ RegCo chief executive Joost van Amelsfort said it had been decided not to go ahead with Medical Kiwi’s direct listing application.

“NZ RegCo confirms it sought [general] information from the FMA on the nature and status of the FMA’s inquiries into Medical Kiwi’s August 2020 crowdfunding capital raise.

He added: “This was one, but not the only factor, in determining Medical Kiwi was not suitable for direct listing at this time. NZ RegCo also considered Medical Kiwi needed to be able to demonstrate a more developed operating model.”

According to nbr.co.nz, the Ministry of Health has also questioned licensing claims made in the company’s Investment Memorandum (IM).

The company had a pre-raise valuation of $32.5m underpinned by a deal with Australian medical cannabis company Hektares that never eventuated.

The IM forecast revenue of more than $40m and profits of $18m, with operating expenses of $7.7m by 2023.

Medical Kiwi was planning to list on the exchange in late March.

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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