AgriFORCE
Signs Definitive Contract to Deploy Its Proprietary Grow House
Facility
and
IP in Barbados for Production of High Value Medical and
Agricultural Crops
Grow
House expected to generate over $12M[1]
of EBITDA per year
based
on current contracts with potential to expand
VANCOUVER,
B.C. – December
2nd, 2021 -- InvestorsHub
NewsWire -- AgriFORCE Growing
Systems Ltd. ("the
Company") (NASDAQ: AGRI; AGRIW), an Intellectual
Property (IP) -focused AgTech company dedicated to advancing
sustainable cultivation and crop processing across multiple
platforms, has signed a definitive contract with Humboldt Bliss,
Ltd. ("Humboldt"), an agriculture and aquaculture business based in
Barbados, West Indies. The contract is for the deployment of the
AgriFORCE foundational IP – which includes a proprietary facility
design, production and operation technologies and methods, and an
automated growing system (the AgriFORCE "Grow House") for the
cultivation and sale of high value medical and agricultural
products into the Caribbean and global pharmaceutical and
agricultural markets.
Under
the terms of the contract, AgriFORCE is responsible for
constructing its proprietary facility and providing the full
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of the AgriFORCE Grow House
and Humboldt is responsible for securing the project's land as well
as operating the facility. Upon production, Humboldt
has committed to remit an IP licensing, management services and
equipment leasing fee to AgriFORCE for up to 14,300 pounds (6,500
kgs) of high value medical and agricultural crops per year. Based
on AgriFORCE's internal financial modelling and current market
index pricing, the Company believes that the contract represents
$12.7M of annual recurring EBITDA.1 As the initial
contract is for a five-year-term, the Company believes this
represents more than $63M in EBITDA1 over the
initial term and with two five-year automatic renewals, it
anticipates the total contract EBITDA1 could be up to
approximately $190 million. The contract will be backed by a
rolling $5 million performance bond maintained by
Humboldt.
AgriFORCE CEO Ingo
Mueller, stated: "Finalizing this agreement is exciting, and we are
looking forward to deploying our Grow House facility in
Barbados.
We
believe that this facility may generate over $12 million of
EBITDA1
per
year based on current contracts with the potential to further
expand production based upon up to a further 50% of available
installed capacity.
Moreover, we have
a robust sales pipeline and we believe this is only the first of
several agreements to roll out our Grow House facilities in the
coming months." He continued: "Like many Caribbean countries,
Barbados has a challenging tropical climate and unique soil
conditions that make some areas of agriculture such as high value
medical and agricultural products a real hurdle to overcome. Our
proprietary facility design and automated growing system and
methods addresses these issues and provides the ability to grow a
range of crops that would be too difficult to grow
otherwise."
The
AgriFORCE team sees this finalized agreement as an exceptional
opportunity to showcase their IP and to help to create high paying
and technical jobs for the people of Barbados, contributing to the
country's economic future. Said Mueller: "We anticipate that along
with creating significant cashflow for the Company, this contract
will lead other Caribbean countries and countries with tropical
climates to appreciate the value of our IP and how we can help
contribute to their economies, employment markets and, of course,
help to advance agriculture in their regions."
"The
opportunity to use the AgriFORCE IP to grow crops in a sustainable
and profitable way in a challenging climate is exciting for the
Humboldt team." Says Robin P. Cho, Director from Humboldt. "With
the AgriFORCE business model, we are confident that we will quickly
produce a strong revenue stream that will contribute directly to
the Company's bottom-line as well as to the country's domestic and
export market. It is a major achievement for everyone involved,
especially for Bliss and Barbados."
-
All EBITDA information provided in this
press release is merely management's belief as to possible future
results.
These numbers are not intended as
projections and are not intended as an indicator or guarantee of
future performance.
|
|
Annual
|
|
Initial term (5
years)
|
|
|
Total
|
|
|
|
(in US$ '000's)
|
|
|
(in US$ '000's)
|
|
|
|
(in US$ '000's)
|
|
Net income
|
|
3,250
|
|
|
16,000
|
|
|
|
49,000
|
|
Depreciation and Amortization
|
|
3,200
|
|
|
16,000
|
|
|
|
48,000
|
|
Interest expense
|
|
5,000
|
|
|
25,000
|
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
Income tax expense
|
|
1,250
|
|
|
6,000
|
|
|
|
18,500
|
|
EBITDA
|
|
12,700
|
|
|
63,000
|
|
|
|
190,500
|
|
About
Humboldt
Humboldt is an agriculture and
aquaculture business based in Barbados, West Indies with deep roots
and ties into the Barbadian business landscape. Through its
subsidiaries, Humboldt has applied for licensure and entered into
various licensing deals, leases, and partnerships in North America
and the Caribbean to sell, distribute and cultivate high value
medical and agricultural products for Caribbean markets. Humboldt
has also entered licensing and partnership deals with a United
States based multi-state dispensary operator; Cannabis Global Inc.
(OTC: CBGL), a publicly traded company focused on multiple growing
verticals within the global cannabis & CBD
industry;
as well as Honey Vape, a
multi-state e-pen manufacturer, to work in partnership in expansion
throughout the Caribbean and South America.
About AgriFORCE
Dedicated to providing more sustainable and better quality
food, plant-based products and ingredients, pharmaceuticals and
nutraceuticals, AgriFORCE Growing
Systems Ltd.
(NASDAQ: AGRI; AGRIW) is an
AgTech company focused on developing and acquiring innovative
agriculture IP that changes the way cultivation and crop processing
are done. The Company's vision is to be a leader in delivering
plant-based foods and products through advanced and sustainable
AgTech solution platforms that make positive change in the world –
from seed to table. The AgriFORCE foundational IP – called the
AgriFORCE Grow House – includes a proprietary facility design and
automated growing system for high-value crops focused on improving
the way that controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) is done. The
AgriFORCE Grow House was designed to produce in virtually any
environmental condition and to optimize crop yields to as near
their full genetic potential possible, while using substantially
fewer natural resources and eliminating the need for the use of
pesticides and/or irradiation. The AgriFORCE goal: Clean. Green.
Better. Additional information about AgriFORCE is available
at: www.agriforcegs.com.
Follow AgriFORCE on Twitter:
@agriforcegs
Follow AgriFORCE on Facebook :
AgriFORCE Growing Systems Ltd.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements other than statements of
historical facts included in this press release may constitute
forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future
performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in
the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors,
including those described from time to time in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and elsewhere. The Company
undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made
herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of
this press release.
Company
Contact:
Ian
Pedersen
Tel:
(604) 757-0952
Email:
ipedersen@agriforcegs.com
Investor
Relations:
Crescendo
Communications, LLC
David
Waldman/Natalya Rudman
Tel:
(212) 671-1021
Email:
AGRI@crescendo-ir.com