Westwood Budega™️ Receives State Permit and Prepares for Opening in May

TORONTO, April 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ – Halo Collective Inc. (“Halo” or the “Company”) (NEO: HALO) (OTCQB: HCANF) (Germany: A9KN) today announced that it has received final approvals from the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation & California Department of Cannabis Control and the State Department of Cannabis Control to commence adult-use sales at its Budega-branded retail dispensary in Westwood. This location is ready for transacting as the track and trace system and point-of-sale have been implemented. The remaining steps left to open include response to the final administrative review.

Adjacent to Beverly Hills, located at 10461 Santa Monica Blvd., ZXC11 has leased approximately 1,500 square feet in Westwood within two miles of the University of Los Angeles California campus (“UCLA”). One of the most vibrant and heavily trafficked areas of metropolitan Los Angeles, the location boasts over 161,000 daily vehicles within three blocks. This prime location features ample parking on the street front and an adjacent parking lot. Westwood is a central regional district for shopping, dining, movie theaters, and other entertainment. Additionally, Century City is one of the most prominent employment centers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, with a workforce of approximately 244,000. In addition, the Westwood Dispensary is within a mile of the boutiques on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, well-positioned to attract tourist traffic.

“With these approvals in hand, Budega’s Westwood store is slated to open with products on shelves in a matter of weeks,” said Katie Field, President and Director of Halo. “Westwood’s opening will allow us to serve even more consumers in the Los Angeles area with a super prime location .”.

The Westwood location is expected to exceed $10 million annually in gross revenue at maturity¹. The Company is also licensed for delivery, and this additional service is expected to increase top-line sales and help capture overall market share. The Westwood location’s delivery service area will include all of the Westside of LA: Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Century City, West Hollywood, and more.

Budega offers a product assortment exceeding 1,000 SKUs, including the many top-tier California brands such as Jungle Boys, Cookies, Kiva, and the customer favorite Budega-branded product lineup. The Budega dispensaries will also stock Halo’s Hush™ branded cartridges, gummies, and pre-rolls. The store plans to operate Monday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Visit www.budega.com for more information.

Ms. Field commented further, “We expect the Westwood location to contribute immediately to Halo’s financial performance. Westwood should significantly increase our top-line net revenue and boost our profitability, especially since we intend to stock up to twenty percent of Budega shelf space with Halo brands and products which allows us to capture a greater proportion of the total economics compared to third party products.”

California remains the highest-grossing state for cannabis retail sales in the United States. California legal retail sales in 2021 totaled $5.2 billion² up 17% from 2020. California is projected to gross $7 billion by 2025.³ California is the largest legal cannabis market in the United States and is less saturated than other mature retail markets. In Los Angeles County, there are approximately 250 licenses⁴ for a population of 3.9 million across 500 square miles⁵ .There are roughly two licenses per 100,000 people in California, one of the lowest rates in the nation among states that support legal recreational sales. By comparison, Oregon has 18 retail shops for every 100,000 residents. Colorado boasts a similar ratio, and Washington state’s rate is more than triple California’s⁶.

We are pleased to report that the nationally celebrated industry holiday (420) produced exceptional results, exceeding initial forecasts, contributing positively to the continued  growth trajectory of Budega’s NoHo location with a well-rounded, double-digit sales increase. Additionally, we continue to see an 87% loyalty activation rate and very positive community feedback to our operating style. With the plans of delivery launch well underway along with the continued progress with our planned additional store openings, we are confident Budega will lead market share for the neighborhoods/markets we serve. Our laser-like focus on selection, accessibility, and service continues to be reinforced by the continued store growth.

Halo is a leading, vertically integrated cannabis company focused on the west coast of the United States and operates other emerging wellness businesses in CBD and non-psychotropic mushroom functional beverages. In its cannabis operations, Halo cultivates, extracts, manufactures, and distributes quality cannabis flower, oils, and concentrates and has sold hundreds of millions of grams of cannabis in the form of flower, pre-rolls, vape carts, edibles, and concentrates since inception. Halo sells a portfolio of branded cannabis products including its proprietary Hush™, Winberry Farms™, Williams Wonder Farms, and Budega™ brands, and under license agreements with Papa’s Herb®, DNA Genetics, and FlowerShop*.

In Oregon, Halo has a combined 14 acres of owned and contracted outdoor and greenhouse cultivation. Halo also operates Food Concepts LLC, a master tenant of a 55,000 square foot indoor cannabis cultivation, processing, and wholesaling facility in Portland. In California, Halo maintains licenses for extraction, manufacturing, and distribution. Halo has partnered with Green Matter and jointly purchased the Bar X Farm in Lake County and plans to develop up to 63 acres of cultivation, comprising one of the largest licensed single site grows in California. Halo has opened a dispensary in Los Angeles under the Budega™ brand in North Hollywood and plans to open two more in Hollywood, and Westwood in the second quarter of 2022. Halo also operates three Kushbar retail cannabis stores located in Alberta, Canada.

Halo is in the process of creating vehicles to separate and enhance the value of its non-THC operating businesses, each of which is positioned to capitalize on the growth of the broader consumer health and wellness market. Halo Tek Inc. is intended to include all of the Company’s technology assets including DispensaryTrack (point-of-sale), AccuDab Holdings (precise dosing pen), Cannalift (web-based delivery app), Nasalbinoid (personal nasal inhalers), Cannafeels (online database of strains) and 1275111 (cannabinoid filtration and purification). Halo has filed a preliminary long form prospectus for Halo Tek with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, other than Québec, for the purpose of qualifying the distribution by Halo to holders of Halo’s common shares of all of the issued and outstanding common shares in the capital of Halo Tek as a return of capital. Halo is also establishing Phytocann International Holdings for all of its remaining non-THC assets, to be anchored by the planned acquisition of Phytocann Holdings, one of Europe’s leading wellness CBD companies, and bolstered by Halo’s existing North American wellness assets including Dissolve Medical, H2C Beverages, Simply Sweet Gummies, and Hushrooms, as well as its distribution and manufacturing agreement with SWAY Energy Corporation (formerly Elegance Brands Inc.).

Halo also holds minority stakes in other companies, the largest of which is Akanda Corp. (NASDAQ: AKAN) an in which it owns 44% of the common shares. Akanda is a leading international medical cannabis and wellness platform company seeking to help people throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa to lead better lives through improved access to high quality and affordable products. Akanda is building a seed-to-patient supply chain, connecting patients with diverse products, including cannabis products cultivated at its competitively advantaged grow operation in the Kingdom of Lesotho and soon to be from its EU GMP certified indoor facility in Portugal, and with other trusted third-party brands. Akanda is positioned to become the clear leader in current and emerging markets in Europe for both medical and eventually adult use customers.

For further information regarding Halo, see Halo’s disclosure documents on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Connect with Halo Collective: Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

This press release contains certain “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only Halo’s beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Halo’s control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “will continue”, “will occur” or “will be achieved”. Forward-looking information may relate to anticipated events or results including, but not limited to the anticipated licensing and opening of the Company’s Budega-branded retail dispensaries in California and the prospects thereof,  management’s plans regarding its portfolio of cannabis businesses, the Company’s expansion plans regarding Canada, the expected size and capabilities of the final facility planned at Ukiah Ventures, the size of Halo’s planned cultivation facility in Northern California, and the ability of Bophelo and Canmart to serve the UK market and the proposed spin-off by Halo Tek Inc.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Halo is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Halo has made certain assumptions. Although Halo believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Among others, the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: inability of management to successfully integrate the operations of acquired businesses, changes in the consumer market for cannabis products, changes in the expected outcomes of the proposed changes to Halo’s operations, delays in obtaining required licenses or approvals necessary for the build-out of Oregon operations, dispensaries or Canadian operations, the proposed spin-out with Halo Tek Inc., delays or unforeseen costs incurred in connection with construction, the ability of competitors to scale operations in Northern California, delays or unforeseen difficulties in connection with the cultivation and harvest of Halo’s raw material, changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; and the other risks disclosed in the Company’s annual information form dated March 31, 2021 and other disclosure documents  available on the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Halo does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to Halo or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

This press release includes market and industry data that has been obtained from third party sources, including industry publications. The Company believes that the industry data is accurate and that its estimates and assumptions are reasonable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of this data. Third party sources generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of included information. Although the data is believed to be reliable, the Company has not independently verified any of the data from third party sources referred to in this press release or ascertained the underlying economic assumptions relied upon by such sources

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell nor the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

SOURCE Halo Collective Inc.