Schultze Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: SAMA, SAMAW,
and SAMAU) (“SAMA”) and Clever Leaves International Inc. (“Clever
Leaves”) announced that following a special meeting of SAMA
stockholders held yesterday, they have completed their previously
announced business combination (the “Business Combination”),
pursuant to which Clever Leaves Holdings Inc. (“Holdco”), a newly
formed holding company, has acquired SAMA and Clever Leaves for
total consideration of approximately $205 million.
Upon completion of the Business Combination,
SAMA became a wholly owned subsidiary of Holdco and the shares of
common stock and warrants of SAMA were exchanged for common shares
and warrants of Holdco. The Holdco common shares and warrants are
expected to begin trading today on the Nasdaq Capital Market under
the ticker symbols “CLVR” and “CLVRW”, respectively.
Clever Leaves’ executive management team, led by
Kyle Detwiler, Chief Executive Officer; Andrés Fajardo, President;
and Julian Wilches, Chief Regulatory Officer; will continue to lead
the combined company. The board of directors of the combined
company will be composed initially of Kyle Detwiler, Andres
Fajardo, Gary Julien, Etienne Deffarges and Elisabeth DeMarse.
George J. Schultze, Chairman and CEO of SAMA
before the Business Combination, said, “We are very pleased to have
completed our merger with Clever Leaves, which delivers attractive
value to our stockholders. We believe that Clever Leaves is now
among the best-capitalized companies in the cannabis industry and
is well-positioned for substantial growth and profitability based
upon its disruptive, low-cost and vertically integrated operating
model. We look forward to working with its outstanding and highly
accomplished management team to create significant value over
time.”
Kyle Detwiler, CEO of Clever Leaves, added,
“Partnering with the SAMA team represents a great opportunity to
take our industry-leading platform to the next level as we are now
poised to benefit from a significantly enhanced balance sheet,
Nasdaq listing, and SAMA’s experience assisting companies such as
ours in prudently compounding profitable growth. We expect that our
combined expertise and resources will further enable us to
accelerate the commercialization of Clever Leaves’ high-quality
products as well as expand the company’s operations and
distribution in attractive markets around the world.”
Canaccord Genuity and EarlyBirdCapital served as
financial advisors to SAMA, while BTIG, LLC served as a capital
markets advisor, and Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Stikeman Elliott and
Posse Herrera Ruiz served as legal advisors. Cowen served as
financial advisor to Clever Leaves, while Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer US LLP, Dentons Canada LLP, and Brigard & Urrutia
Abogados SAS served as legal advisors.
About Schultze Special Purpose
Acquisition Corp.Schultze Special Purpose Acquisition
Corp. is a blank check company formed for the purpose of entering
into a merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase,
recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business
combination with one or more businesses or entities. SAMA’s sponsor
is an affiliate of Schultze Asset Management, LP, an alternative
investment management firm founded in 1998 that focuses on
distressed, special situation and event-driven securities and has
invested over $3.2 billion since inception with a notable
track-record through its active investment strategy. SAMA itself is
backed by an experienced team of operators and investors with a
successful track-record of creating material value in public and
private companies. For more information, please visit
https://samcospac.com/
About Clever Leaves International
Inc.Clever Leaves is a multi-national cannabis company
with a mission to operate in compliance with federal and state laws
and with an emphasis on ecologically sustainable, large-scale
cultivation and pharmaceutical-grade processing as the cornerstones
of its global cannabis business. With operations and investments in
the United States, Canada, Colombia, Germany and Portugal, Clever
Leaves has created an effective distribution network and global
footprint, with a foundation built upon capital efficiency and
rapid growth. Clever Leaves aims to be one of the industry’s
leading global cannabis companies recognized for its principles,
people, and performance while fostering a healthier global
community. For more information, please visit
https://cleverleaves.com/en/home/.
Forward Looking StatementsThis
press release includes forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are statements
that are not historical facts and may be identified by the words
“estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,”
“plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,”
“future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar
expressions (or the negative versions of such words or
expressions). Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from
the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such
differences include, without limitation, the inability to recognize
the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination; the ability
to continue to meet Nasdaq’s listing standards following the
consummation of the Business Combination; expectations with respect
to future operating and financial performance and growth, including
if or when Clever Leaves or Holdco will become profitable; Clever
Leaves’ ability to execute its business plans and strategy and to
receive regulatory approvals; potential litigation involving the
parties; global economic conditions; geopolitical events, natural
disasters, acts of God and pandemics, including, but not limited
to, the economic and operational disruptions and other effects of
COVID-19; regulatory requirements and changes thereto; access to
additional financing; and other risks and uncertainties indicated
from time to time in filings with the SEC. The foregoing list of
factors is not exclusive. Additional information concerning certain
of these and other risk factors is contained in Holdco’s and SAMA’s
most recent filings with the SEC and is contained in the final
prospectus and definitive proxy statement, filed with the SEC by
Holdco and SAMA, respectively, on November 27, 2020. All subsequent
written and oral forward-looking statements concerning SAMA, Clever
Leaves or Holdco, the transactions described herein or other
matters and attributable to SAMA, Clever Leaves, Holdco or any
person acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their
entirety by the cautionary statements above. Readers are cautioned
not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date made. Each of SAMA, Clever Leaves
and Holdco expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to
release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking
statements contained herein to reflect any change in their
expectations with respect thereto or any change in events,
conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.
Schultze Special Purpose Acquisition Corp.George
J. Schultze: schultze@samco.netGary M.
Julien: gjulien@samco.net(914) 701-5260
Investor RelationsRaphael Gross
ICRraphael.gross@icrinc.com(203) 682-8253
Sean Mansouri, CFA or Cody SlachGateway Investor
RelationsCLVR@gatewayir.com (949) 574-3860
Media RelationsKCSA Strategic
CommunicationsMcKenna Millermmiller@kcsa.com(347) 487-6197
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