Canada-based cannabis extraction company Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. announced a new strategic partnership with American Media LLC to help support the growth of Neptune’s brands in the U.S., including Forest Remedies and OceanO3.
American Media owns and operates leading celebrity and health & fitness media brands such as Men’s Journal, Us Weekly, OK!, Life & Style and enthusiast brands including Powder, Surfer and Bike. Their portfolio of brands has a combined total circulation of 5.7+ million and reach 53+ million readers each month. American Media’s wide reach in mobile and online media is impressive with 65+ million unique visitors and 762+ million page views monthly.
Under the terms of the partnership agreement, American Media will provide advertising and creative services to Neptune to support the marketing and commercialization of Neptune’s consumer-facing brands in the U.S. American Media will also have the opportunity to become a shareholder in Neptune. Neptune will issue to AMI 3,000,000 warrants, each warrant allowing the holder to purchase one common share of Neptune at an exercise price of US$8.00 per share and with a 5-year expiration date. The warrants will vest proportionally to the services rendered by AMI. Upon exercise of the warrants AMI will be required to hold the shares acquired for a minimum of 6 months. Neptune expects to leverage most of the advertising services provided by American Media in the next twelve months.
“American Media’s pedigree and reach will accelerate the growth of Neptune’s consumer-facing products into the U.S. retail landscape. We are excited to have American Media join the Neptune family,” said Michael Cammarata, CEO of Neptune. “In August, we created Neptune Ventures, our venture capital arm, to foster strategic partnerships. Today’s announcement will help us achieve our mission to redefine health and wellness by utilizing hemp-derived ingredients beyond just consumption. We see hemp-derived applications for beauty, personal care and home care. This further enhances our ability to build a diverse customer base which includes hemp, nutraceutical and consumer package goods companies.”
“We are very excited to partner with Neptune as American Media’s vast portfolio of brands are uniquely positioned to further influence the extraordinary growth potential, and momentum, of the Company. We look forward to our continued collaboration, and success, in this high growth industry,” said American Media Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Dylan Howard.
Neptune currently sells hemp-derived CBD products under the Forest Remedies™ brand, which includes balms, roll-ons and massage oils, and plans to broaden its portfolio of hemp-derived products in the future.
