FastForward invests in Australian medicinal cannabis firm

Investment company FastForward Innovations has invested AUD 1m (£0.56m) in a placing undertaken by Little Green Pharma, an ASX-Listed, vertically-integrated medicinal cannabis business with operations from cultivation and production through to manufacturing and distribution.

The AIM-traded firm said Little Green Pharma’s placing raised a total of AUD 22m at a price of 65 Australian cents, and as such, it expected to hold 0.9% of the company following the issuing of the placing shares.

It said the investment would further develop its exposure to the medicinal cannabis industry, explaining that Little Green Pharma supplies compliant medical-grade cannabis products to Australian and overseas markets.

Little Green Pharma achieved record quarterly results for the December quarter, with sales revenue up 90% on the prior quarter to AUD 2.45m.

The company had made “significant” recent progress in the establishment of offshore distribution channels, including to the UK, Germany and New Zealand.

“As an experienced medical cannabis company investor, we have a very good understanding of the market opportunity, the international regulatory landscape and a team's ability to deliver,” said FastForward chief executive officer Ed McDermott.

“Having been aware of their progress we are delighted to now support LGP, which ticks all the boxes; it has great assets, strong management, is well capitalised, and continuously delivers on its forecasts in a market where many do not.

“Furthermore, having engineered excellent European growth, we are confident that it will have further success internationally and deliver strong newsflow in the coming months and we look forward to supporting LGP and its management wherever we can.”

At 1417 GMT, shares in FastForward Innovations were down 4.20% at 10.2p.