PharmaCielo Ltd. (“PharmaCielo” or the “Company”) (TSXV: PCLO) (OTCQX: PCLOF), the Canadian parent of Colombia’s premier cultivator and producer of medicinal-grade cannabis extracts, PharmaCielo Colombia Holdings S.A.S., today announced that two experienced cannabis market professionals – Bob DeGabrielle and Will Nicholas – have been added to the Company’s board of directors. Bob DeGabrielle is an experienced entrepreneur and operator in the sector, and Will Nicholas is a successful long-term investor in the space.
Bill Petron, Chairman and CEO of PharmaCielo Ltd. commented, “As we focus on taking one of the largest, lowest cost cannabis operations in the world, and quickly leveraging it into a position of global leadership, we need to have the right talent and guidance around the table. Bob brings experience at every level of the cannabis value chain, with particular expertise gained from founding, scaling and monetizing the largest outdoor cannabis cultivation footprint in North America. Will brings a very sophisticated global finance perspective, having funded some of the most promising assets in the developing global cannabis industry and helped build them into enduring businesses that create lasting shareholder value.”
Background – Bob DeGabrielle
After a lengthy career in acquiring, developing, and selling over US$1 billion of commercial and residential real estate in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Bob DeGabrielle became a pioneer in the cannabis industry.
His involvement in the industry began in Florida where he was instrumental in assisting with the Cannabis Ballot Initiative which passed in 2012. After his successful efforts on the East Coast, he moved to Colorado where he built three dispensaries, a testing lab, and a 25,000 sf indoor cultivation facility. Since 2015, Mr. DeGabrielle has been the managing partner and one of the founders of Los Suenos Farms LLC, the largest outdoor cannabis farm in North America consisting of 36 acres of sun-grown cannabis and an additional 36,000 sf greenhouses. In addition, he is the owner of High Colorado Farms and Nielsen Farms. Combined, all three farms consist of over 66 acres and are currently growing 60,000 plants that should produce in excess of 90,000 pounds of biomass in 2021. Additionally, Mr. DeGabrielle is the owner of Colorado Cannabis Associates comprised of two retail dispensaries and an additional indoor cultivation facility.
He serves on the board of Colorado Leads and MIG (Marijuana Industry Group), the two leading cannabis industry associations in Colorado. Mr. DeGabrielle was also a founding member of the Cannabis Trade Federation, a national industry association in the United States.
In May, 2021, it was announced that these combined business interests were acquired by Curaleaf, Inc., for US$78 million. The transaction is expected to close in late 2021.
Background – Will Nicholas
Will Nicholas is an experienced finance professional with an extensive career in banking and investment management in New York, Zurich and London. Following a career in banking with Bankers Trust Company, Swiss Bank Corporation and UBS Investment Bank, Mr. Nicholas co-founded Oceanwood Capital Management, a London based European-focused event driven hedge fund manager. Mr. Nicholas served as COO and then CEO of the firm over a decade and retired as CEO in 2017.
In 2014, Mr. Nicholas performed extensive research on the burgeoning U.S. medical cannabis industry which led to him becoming a “day 1” investor in Alternative Medical Enterprises (“AltMed”). Mr. Nicholas provided AltMed with strategic advice on the European medical cannabis market prior to its merger with Verano Holdings Corp. Mr. Nicholas, a resident of Oxford, England, continues to actively follow developments in the European Medical cannabis market and has developed a network of industry contacts in the UK, Germany, Poland, Portugal and the Czech Republic.
