Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc.

Motif Labs acquired by Organigram in $90M deal

One of Canada’s cannabis giants, Moncton’s Organigram, has purchased Aylmer-based Motif Labs, founded by Mario Naric (pictured), for $90 million ($50 million in cash and CA$40 million in Organigram shares). The acquisition establishes Organigram as Canada’s largest cannabis company by market share. “The highly complementary acquisition of Motif establishes Organigram as Canada’s largest cannabis company by market share and accelerates our vision to be a leading cannabis company across all major categories, driven by a relentless focus on the consumer of today and tomorrow,” said Organigram CEO Beena Goldenberg. Naric, Motif’s CEO and a London Inc. 20 Under 40 recipient (class of 2019), called the deal “a landmark transaction in our industry,” and said that “the Motif team is thrilled to be joining forces with Organigram to create Canada’s undisputed leader with deep capabilities in all major cannabis categories.”

The upshot: It’s a sweet payday for Naric and Motif Labs, which over the past few years (rather quietly) grew its cannabis extraction and processing operation into a rarity in the Canadian cannabis industry these days ― a profitable powerhouse. What started primarily as a white labeling operation exploded once it started pumping out its own in-house branded products, and at last measure they controlled more than one-fifth of the entire vape market in Canada, primarily through their BOXHOT and DEBUNK brands. The other key asset that Organigram is getting in the deal is access to Motif’s distribution network in Southwestern Ontario, a province it hasn’t really ever had an operational footprint in. “This deal is about a leading public cannabis company joining forces with Canada’s top private licensed producer,” said Paolo De Luca, chief strategy officer at Organigram. “We are extremely excited about leveraging our combined competitive advantages and respective market positions to continue to grow in Canada and beyond.” The deal also includes Motif’s new distribution hub in London.

Read more: MJBizDaily | Market Exclusive

VersaBank caps off 2024 with record asset growth, gears up to scale U.S. expansion

It’s been a good year for London’s VersaBank, which released its Q4 numbers last week, showing a 15 per cent increase in assets, bringing its balance sheet to $4.8 billion. As the cloud-based, B2B bank plots its expansion into the United States, it does so on sound footing up here, with revenues up three per cent and loan values up 10 per cent. "Our fourth quarter and fiscal 2024 results continue to demonstrate the underlying strength of our digital, B2B, branchless banking model,” said president David Taylor in a press release. "In fiscal 2025, we look forward to further capitalizing on the operating leverage within our model through continued steady growth in our Canadian Digital Banking operations, led by our Receivable Purchase Program [RPP] portfolio, with some additional potential upside resulting from the declining interest rate environment, as well as a meaningful contribution from our CMHC-insured residential mortgage opportunity.”

The upshot: It was a good year, but bigger things are on the horizon for VersaBank, which is just now starting its U.S. expansion in earnest. Last week it announced three new names for its U.S. executive team ― Mike Dixon, Nick Kristo and David Robertson, all taking on similar files on the VersaBank USA side. “Their extensive experience with the RPP in Canada will be invaluable as we scale the U.S. RPP program throughout 2025 and capitalize on the significant growth potential in the multi-trillion-dollar U.S. point of sale market," said Taylor. And VersaBank is also hoping that it can play nice with the incoming Trump administration, particularly on the crypto front, stating that it was “very encouraged by the favorable stance of incoming President Donald Trump, and his proposed administration, with respect to digital currencies and what this may mean for DRT Cyber Inc., our wholly-owned subsidiary.”

Read more: VersaBank

Sifton doubles down on Caverhill development

In April, Sifton Homes got approval for its Caverhill East development, a proposal to build 1,079 homes at the southeast corner of Kilally and Clarke roads. Now, it’s eyeing to more than double that, and is proposing Caverhill West ― a development of between 900 and 1,300 homes ― located across the street from the first proposed development. The new proposal would be of a higher density, since the parcel of land is considerably smaller (50 acres, compared to 124 acres on the east side). “It’s more dense, it will offer more affordable products,” Sifton senior vice-president Phil Masschelein told The London Free Press, noting the new proposal will include a mix of single-family homes, stacked townhouses and an eight- to twelve-storey apartment building. Councillor Peter Cuddy, who represents the northeast London Ward 3 riding, supported Sifton’s proposal. “I will work with our community partners, Sifton and city planners to develop this property into something esthetically pleasing for thousands of Londoners looking for new homes.”

The upshot: There likely won’t be much standing in the way of this development ― like Caverhill East, the patch of land on the west side is largely vacant and Sifton is unlikely to face much opposition, given that this development looks to be more focused on lower-cost options than the first one, with more of the units aimed at the more affordable end of the spectrum. “We want to have a range of price points, a mix of products,” Masschelein said. “We’re seeing that customers want diverse products from single family, to townhomes, stacked townhomes and apartment units that can be for rent or sale. There are a variety of heights and densities. Customers want choice.” Perhaps the only pain point for Sifton, though a slight one, is that they weren’t able to bundle these as two phases of one application and will have to shepherd this one through city hall on its own.

Read more: London Free Press

What’s old is new again: Mobility Master Plan brings BRT back into he spotlight

London unveiled its new Mobility Master Plan this week, reviving the once-dead north and west BRT lines, planning on a number of road widening projects, adding some cycling infrastructure and floating plans for a “goods movement network” that would try to accommodate commercial truck traffic through the city. The marquee piece here is likely to be the revival of the west-end BRT line, and the creation of a new north-end BRT line. After voting down similar proposals in the past, the city now hopes to build BRT lanes to the north, along Wharncliffe and Western roads, and to the west, along Riverside Drive and Oxford Street (both are more or less the same proposals that the city spiked in 2019), Also included in the new master plan is road widening projects on Sunningdale, Commissioners, Southdale, Clarke and Bradley, and proposals to add cycling infrastructure on Huron, Hamilton and Base Line. (The city admits that of these, the proposal to add cycling lanes on Hamilton Road might require some negotiations with the province, which recently granted itself veto power over many new bike lanes that municipalities want to pursue.) "These maps represent our vision for the future, one that prioritizes mobility for all forms of transportation,” said Sarah Grady, the city’s manager of transportation design.

The upshot: For the city, this is all about accommodating new growth it is hoping to achieve over the next couple decades, with a particular focus on the expansion it is seeing in the west end. “That is an indicator that London is transitioning from a medium-sized city into a large city, and, as such, needs a better transportation system; more options for Londoners, as we see that growth happen,” said Doug MacCrae, director of transportation. Some at the city will definitely be kicking themselves, or at least ruing the decision, to kill the west-end BRT back in 2019, when there was significant funding on the table from upper levels of government ― the city has a boatload of housing proposals approved near Oxford and Wonderland specifically, and traffic there can already be a bit nightmarish. The Mobility Master Plan is now open for public input, and there will be a round of public meetings on the plan in the new year, with council expected to formally consider the plan next spring. 

Read more: CBC New London | CTV News London

Craigwood Youth Services closes after more than 70 years

After more than 70 years in operation, Craigwood Youth Services announced this week it is closing its doors. Craigwood has provided support for children and teens in the London region since 1954 and operated a facility in Aisla Craig (partially as a youth detention centre). “This decision has not been easy,” said Craigwood in a statement posted to its website. “It comes after careful consideration of financial challenges, systemic changes in youth services and efforts to explore alternative paths, including partnerships and mergers. Despite these efforts, we have reached a point where this transition is necessary.” Interim director Claudia den Boer said the closure decision was “a matter of funding challenges hitting up against changes that are unfolding over the last while in terms of how services to youth and children are being delivered, and that has resulted in a situation where we find it difficult to find a path forward.” Changes to the way the province funds youth justice and services care ― shifting toward more community-based models ― has led to challenges keeping the doors open. "We've been waiting for the ministry to invest in us. But clearly the ministry has decided that they're not going to invest," said Jonathan Guider, president of the OPSEU local that represented Craigwood’s workers. “I wish the province would have invested in our good services, because we did have excellent committed employees."

The upshot: The closure was not necessarily an abrupt one, as workers at the facility had been sounding the alarm over a clear lack of resources. There have long been criticisms of the way the youth justice facilities are run in Ontario, which has both a provincially run system and a private-agency run system; a 2016 report recommended the province merge the two to be able to fund it more efficiently. Staffing appears to have been the primary issue at Craigwood, with the facility resorting to spending on temp agency staff, unable to recruit staff of their own, some of whom were drawn to the much higher wages offered in the provincial youth detention facilities. “We work with the same youth, we're overseen by the same ministry, but our part-time workers start at $19 an hour and cap out at $20 an hour,” Guider told CBC News London. "It's a no-brainer. Why would you stay when you can make as much money working at Starbucks?" In the end, some of the biggest victims in this were the residents of Craigwood and their families ― last month, the remaining three were flown to Sault Ste Marie ― quite a long distance away. "I can't believe they're allowed to just ship them out like that,” said the mother of one unidentified resident. “She loves the staff at Craigwood. She has developed attachments with them. These are her family right now. They know her issues." 

Read more: CTV News London | CBC News London

Dispatch: December 13, 2024

A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week.

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