Cannabis entrepreneur Gabriel Theron is to list Africa's first medical cannabis-focused special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) on the JSE. Theron, who founded Cilo Cybin Holdings, is seeking to raise as much as R2 billion when the share offer opens on Monday, 12 September 2022. It closes in November 2022. 

The SPAC's first acquisition with be Cilo Cybin, the SAHPRA-licensed facility in Gauteng that has been cultivating Durban Poison for medical purposes

“The first step of the plan with the money raised is to acquire an existing cannabis manufacturing facility and to supersize its capacity,” said Theron, who set up and is a part owner of the proposed site. “We want to position ourselves as one of the largest processing hubs for the cannabis industry in Africa.”

Bloombergs reported on 9 September 2022 that the initial public offering (IPO) on the JSE will be just the fourth SPAC listing in Africa and a first for the cannabis industry on the continent.

It reports that "while the popularity of blank-check companies — as SPACs are also known — has been on the wane recently in the US and Asia amid tightening regulatory scrutiny, the Cilo Cybin move indicates there may still be appetite in Africa."

Theron says Cilo Cybin  has the capacity to produce about R150m worth of cannabis and vaping products a month, said Theron. The plant is one of many entities in SA to have been given a licence to cultivate or manufacture cannabis products.

Theron has said previously that he's looking for acquisitions of both non-cannabis companies would be considered, including potential US investments in the brain health testing sector and genetics.  He said the company may look at a Nasdaq listing to raise further capital.

Theron told Bloombergs that, should the market develop, the company plans to explore manufacturing options for products of psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms from which it  takes its name.

CA