Jakob Ripshtein to become Aphria's first Chief
Commercial Officer
Christelle
Gedeon appointed Chief Legal Officer
LEAMINGTON, ON, April 25, 2018 /CNW/ - Aphria Inc.
("Aphria" or the "Company") (TSX: APH and
US OTC: APHQF) today announced the appointment of Jakob
Ripshtein as the Company's first Chief Commercial Officer as of
May 1, 2018 and Christelle Gedeon as Chief Legal Officer as of
June 1, 2018. The Company is also
announcing several new management appointments as Aphria continues
to add depth, experience and leadership across the organization,
together with the adoption of a formal governance policy regarding
investments and other opportunities.
Jakob Ripshtein, Chief Commercial Officer
As Aphria's
first Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Ripshtein will oversee the
Company's commercial, sales and marketing teams. Mr. Ripshtein most
recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Diageo North America,
a position he has held since 2016. In his 10 years with Diageo, he
also served as President of Diageo Canada and also held a variety
of Finance and Commercial roles in Canada, the United
States and England. While
serving as CFO and President of Diageo Canada concurrently, Mr.
Ripshtein managed Diageo Canada's overall operations and resources
and strove to continually improve Diageo's relationships with its
critical stakeholders – brokers, Provincial Liquor Regulators, and
Provincial and Federal authorities. Prior to Diageo, he oversaw
business, sales and tax functions in the Canadian spirits,
pharmaceutical and financial sectors.
Mr. Ripshtein joins Aphria's Executive Team, reporting to the
CEO, and will be based in Toronto.
He will be an integral part of strategic planning in both Sales and
Marketing, as well as leading various commercial business
plans.
"Jakob is a tremendous addition to our leadership team and we
are thrilled to welcome him to the Aphria family," said
Vic Neufeld, CEO of Aphria. "He
brings an incredible track record and a depth of experience in
regulated industries that will strengthen our commercial, sales and
marketing operations and our entire organization. We're continuing
to add world-class talent as we build Aphria's bench strength
throughout the company"
Christelle Gedeon, H.Bsc,
LL.B/B.C.L., Ph.D., Chief Legal Officer
Dr. Gedeon will join
Aphria as the Company's Chief Legal Officer. Dr. Gedeon was most
recently a Partner at Fasken, where her practice focused on the
life sciences industry, advising on intellectual property matters,
regulated products under the Food and Drugs Act and providing
transactional support. Dr. Gedeon received her LL.B./B.C.L.
from McGill University and holds a
Ph.D. in Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Toronto.
"We are delighted to bring Christelle's extensive knowledge and
experience in regulatory affairs and specifically the cannabis
industry in Canada in-house,"
continued Neufeld. "It's a big win for Aphria to have someone of
Christelle's caliber on our leadership team, and we are looking
forward to benefiting from her expertise and guidance as the
cannabis industry continues to evolve."
Aphria announces Vice President of Commercial Strategy,
Director of Education and Training, and Director of Information
Technology
Aphria is also pleased to announce the following
appointments:
- Gregg Battersby, Aphria's
Director of Operational Logistics, has been promoted to Vice
President of Commercial Strategy. Mr. Battersby joined Aphria in
2015 as Controller and previously worked in the Finance department
at Jamieson Laboratories.
- Michelle Latinsky will join
Aphria as the Company's Director of Education and Training, based
in Toronto. Ms. Latinsky is an
award-winning dietitian and most recently served as Manager of
Nutrition Education at Jamieson Laboratories, where she worked for
nearly 12 years.
- Jamie Policella recently joined
Aphria as Director of Information Technology. Mr. Policella has
more than 30 years of experience in IT and consulting, and most
recently served as General Manager of Applied Computer
Solutions.
Aphria Co-Founder to oversee Broken Coast
Cannabis
With over 20 years in commercial agricultural
business, John Cervini, Co-Founder
of Aphria and Vice President of Technology & Infrastructure,
will oversee the operations of the Company's subsidiary Broken
Coast Cannabis Inc., in addition to his current
responsibilities.
Governance Update
The Company is also pleased to
announce that as part of its regular review and enhancement of
governance practices, the board of directors (the "Board")
of the Company, upon the unanimous recommendation of the
Compensation, Nominating and Governance committee (the
"Committee") of the Board, has unanimously adopted a
refreshed Position Description for the Lead Independent Director
and a formal Policy Regarding Investments and other Opportunities
(the "Policy") in the cannabis and related industries, each
effective immediately. The Policy applies to all directors,
executive officers and other designated individuals employed or
retained by the Company and its subsidiaries and provides for,
among other things: (i) certain considerations regarding potential
corporate opportunities of the Company, (ii) additional
requirements for investments in other companies operating in the
cannabis and related industries, (iii) approval and other
requirements for new and existing directorships within the cannabis
and related industries, and (iv) sanctions for any breach or
non-compliance with the Policy.
Vic Neufeld, the Chief Executive
Officer and Chairman of the Board, stated, "our Company is
committed to attracting and retaining new leaders and pursuing best
practices for governance on our Board and within our management
team. As we continue to execute on our existing strategic
plan for the Company, and we increasingly interact with
governments, government agencies and other strategic partners, both
within Canada and globally, the
requirement for good governance has never been more important to
the Company in achieving its corporate objectives. We look forward
to fulfilling a leadership position in governance in the emerging
cannabis industry in Canada. "
Dennis Staudt, the lead
independent director of the Board added, "I look forward to working
more closely with the independent directors on the Board on behalf
of our stakeholders."
The Company also announced that the Committee is currently
interviewing and considering prospective candidates for the
appointment or election of an additional independent and qualified
director to the Board and expects to add such new independent
director to its slate of management nominees for election to the
Board at its next annual and general meeting of
shareholders.
We Have a Good Thing Growing.
About Aphria
Aphria Inc., one of Canada's
lowest cost producers, produces, supplies and sells medical
cannabis. Located in Leamington,
Ontario, the greenhouse capital of Canada, Aphria is truly powered by sunlight
allowing for the most natural growing conditions available. Aphria
is committed to providing pharma-grade medical cannabis, superior
patient care while balancing patient economics and returns to
shareholders.
For more information, visit: aphria.ca
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain
information in this news release constitutes forward-looking
statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that
are contained in this news release that are not statements of
historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements.
Forward looking statements are often identified by terms such as
"may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe",
"intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are
not limited to, statements with respect to internal expectations,
estimated margins, expectations with respect to actual production
volumes, expectations for future growing capacity and costs, the
completion of any capital project or expansions, and expectations
with respect to future production costs. Forward-looking statements
necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without
limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions;
adverse industry events; marketing costs; loss of markets; future
legislative and regulatory developments involving medical
marijuana; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and
external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on
favourable terms; the medical marijuana industry in Canada generally, income tax and regulatory
matters; the ability of Aphria to implement its business
strategies; competition; crop failure; currency and interest rate
fluctuations and other risks.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive.
Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the
plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will
occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by
management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect
and actual results may differ materially from those
anticipated.
Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are
expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
SOURCE Aphria Inc.