Akerna To Acquire Ample Organics In $45M Deal

Akerna Corp (NASDAQ:KERN), a cannabis compliance technology provider, announced Wednesday an agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Canadian-based Ample Organics Inc in liquidity and stock deal estimated at up to $45 million.

Ample Organics covers more than 70% of the Canadian market with its seed-to-sale platform with several operational recognitions.

The payment is composed of $5.7 million in cash and $32.3 million in stocks. With the additional consideration that if Ample Organics achieves certain revenue targets its shareholders will receive an extra payment of $7.6 million in stocks. The settlement is expected to close by the end of the first quarter in 2020.

The projected revenue for Ample Organics is about $8.7 million, sticking forecasted cash flow positive in the second quarter.

Related: 'Setting The Standard For Product Safety': Akerna's CEO Talks Cannabis Data

“Today, modern supply chains are too complex and consumers are demanding transparency," Akerna CEO Jessica Billingsley told Benzinga. "Nowhere is this more apparent than the cannabis industry. To help get to where we need to be, Akerna has been at the forefront of providing data to enable tracking, compliance, and product safety through an understanding of the supply chain of custody. Our acquisition of Ample Organics helps reconnect people with the means of production.”

At time of publication, Akerna's stock traded higher by 8% at $11.89 per share.