Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
- BPH has agreed to initially invest 10 per cent, with the option to increase to 49 per cent, in Patagonia Genetics
- The company is expanding its portfolio of Australian biomedical technologies
- PG Aust is a craft hemp company based in Patagonia, Chile which has a genetic collection of over 260 cannabis and hemp strains
- The Latin American region is said to become a global leader in hemp production. This is due to the region boasting prime growing conditions
BPH Energy has announced its intention to pursue investments in the medical hemp sector.
Particularly, BPH has agreed to initially invest 10 per cent, with the option to increase to 49 per cent, in Patagonia Genetics (PG Aust), PG Aust owns a 100 per cent interest in Patagonia Genetics SPA (PG), a Chilean entity.
BPH is a diverse company which holds investments in biotechnology and resources. The company is expanding its portfolio of Australian biomedical technologies and has stated the latest investment is in line with its strategy.
PG Aust is a craft hemp company based in Patagonia, Chile. It has a genetic collection of over 260 cannabis and hemp strains, collected from industrial hemp cultivations of the late 1980s. A large portion of these is unhybridized landraces which haven’t been seen in domestic markets in over 30 years – making them more valuable.
The 260 collection has over 30,000 seeds. PG Aust claims to be the only seed bank in the world to hold the rarest F1 Columbian Red and Black Black strains which produce an almost pure black cannabis plant.
The medicinal hemp sector is currently experiencing significant growth globally. Canada is reportedly moving to legalise hemp and the UK Government announced legalising medicinal hemp from November 2018.
10 Latin American countries have legalised medicinal hemp and three have decriminalised it for recreational adult use.
The Latin American region is said to become a global leader in hemp production. This is due to the region boasting prime growing conditions including a suitable climate and arable land. The price of labour is also apparently a lot cheaper compared to Europe and North America.
If hemp production continues to grow in this region, BPH will eventually hold a 49 per cent interest in return profits.
PG Aust currently has 11 applications under review with the Livestock and Agriculture Service which, upon approval, it expects to be cultivating medicinal hemp, conducting research and development on its genetic collection and cultivating stabilised seeds locally before the end of FY 2020.
Under the agreement, BPH will acquire a 10 per cent interest in PG Aust in consideration for a subscription amount $50,000 in cash an the issue of 150,000,000 BPH shares and payment of $50,000 by equal instalments over six months to PG Aust’s shareholders.
BPH is granted the option to acquire a total shareholding of 49 per cent in PG Aust in consideration for a subscription amount of $700,000 and the issue of 450,000,000 shares. BPH can exercise this option any time within 18 months
