Scottish firm Voyager Life spearheads move to create Britain’s ‘first vertically integrated cannabis company’

Deal will provide shareholders of both companies with exposure to the medical and over-the-counter markets.

Scottish firm Voyager Life manufactures and supplies high-quality cannabidiol (CBD), hemp seed oil and hemp-related products.

Voyager Life, the Scottish CBD health and wellness business, has agreed a merger deal that will create Britain’s first vertically integrated cannabis company.

The Perth-based group is proposing to tie the knot with Northern Leaf, which runs a state-of-the-art, 100,000-square-foot medical cannabis growing facility in Jersey. The two businesses have signed heads of terms and the merger would value the enlarged group at in excess of £5 million.

From its two bases in Scotland and Jersey, the group will have multiple revenue streams and encompass a range of operations including the 100,000 sq ft indoor growing facility, VoyagerCann’s manufacturing facility, three consumer brands - Voyager, Ascend Skincare and Infused Amphora - and the Scottish firm’s three own stores.

Frank Walker, chairman of Northern Leaf, and Geoff Eyre, chief executive of Northern Leaf, are expected to join the Voyager board on completion of the merger. Eric Boyle, Nick Tulloch and Jill Overland will remain on the board.

Tulloch, Voyager’s founder and chief executive and the former boss of Zoetic International, the first CBD - cannabidiol - company listed on the London Stock Exchange, said: “The enlarged group will set a new standard in the British Isles’ cannabis industry through its vertically integrated cultivation, manufacturing and sales divisions. Furthermore, it provides shareholders of both companies with exposure to both the medical and over-the-counter markets.

“With the complementary operating structures of Voyager and Northern Leaf, the enlarged group expects to be able to derive immediate revenue and cost synergies following completion of the merger. Northern Leaf has a fully constructed state-of-the-art 100,000 square foot indoor growing facility and a tax-efficient location in Jersey. It has already commenced sales of medical cannabis and, as cultivation is expanded and new strains are developed, it is well positioned to develop new customer channels in the next 12 months.”

Eyre added: “This merger with Voyager delivers on our long standing commitment to bring Northern leaf onto the listed markets and provide liquidity for our shareholders. We have been impressed with the breadth of Voyager’s operations and the integration of the two businesses provides numerous opportunities for each of us to accelerate our development.”