Germany’s largest independent cannabis distributor has filed a claim for damages against Canadian firm Aurora Cannabis (TSE: ACB) after accusing it of breaching a commercial agreement.
Cannamedical Pharma had a deal in place with MedReleaf (Aurora acquisition) to import medicinal marijuana and it claims it was expecting shipments in August and September. District government of Cologne officials had visited Medreleaf’s Markham facility in Ontario to give it Good Manufacturing Practice Certification in order for it to supply Cannamedical.
The German firm is strict about achieving those standards, so that accreditation was a big deal. German Federal Opium Agency officials are said to have given MedReleaf two valid import permits for a total of 450 kilograms of medicinal cannabis, and Cannamedical was expecting to receive the product. However, it said it did not receive any cannabis from MedReleaf, which Aurora purchased for C$3.2 billion ($2.5 billion) in July 2018.
It has responded by filing a claim in the courts of Ontario, seeking “significant damages” against Aurora Cannabis and MedReleaf.
Yet Cannamedical has wasted no time in looking elsewhere for cannabis supply. It has inked a deal to import 9,000 kilos of marijuana from Canada over the next three years from Wayland Group (CSE: WAYL).
Cannamedical distributes to more than 2,200 pharmacies across Germany and it has now set its sights on expanding further into Europe. It plans to introduce three new lines – CannaSativa, CannaIndica and Cannhybrid – at next week’s German Pain Congress in Mannheim.
“Being able to meet the exponentially growing demand of our European client base strengthens our position as the largest independent and privately-owned cannabis distributor in Germany,” said chief executive David Henn.
Cannamedical has also recently tied up a deal with Australian Natural Therapeutics Group to import its product, and ANTG said it is excited to make inroads into an exciting and fast-growing German market.
Wayland is based in Ontario, but it also has a German office in Munich, and it is just one of six cannabis companies in the world to exceed EU-GMP standards for dry cannabis flower. Chief executive Ben Ward said the deal with Cannamedical would provide significant revenue and profit for the company and allow it to build a sustainable business.
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