Willow Biosciences closes upsized bought deal offering for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $28.75M after full exercise of over-allotment option

Willow Biosciences Inc. (TSX:WLLW) (TSX:WLLW.WT) (OTCQX:CANSF) said it has closed its previously upsized bought deal offering of 17,424,800 common shares at a price of $1.65 each, which includes 2,272,800 common shares issued under the exercise in full of the over-allotment option, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $28.75 million.

The company noted that participation in the offering was comprised primarily of existing cornerstone shareholders and new institutional buyside funds.

“We’re very pleased with the results of the Offering, the proceeds of which will allow the Company to accelerate capital spending towards execution of our commercialization plan for our existing portfolio cannabinoids and continue to explore opportunities for cannabinoids in development,” said Trevor Peters, president and chief executive officer of Willow in a statement.

“This financing saw significant interest from institutional money managers which is a key step in the evolution of the Company. Additionally, the strong cash position of Willow allows us as an organization to have significantly more negotiating leverage with potential business development opportunities. With commercialization of our first cannabinoid expected to occur in Q1 2021, marking the final step in our transition to becoming a revenue generating company, we are in a very strong position to generate value for Willow stakeholders,” he added.

READ: Willow Biosciences upsizes bought-deal financing raise to $25 million from initial $20.0 million

Net proceeds from the offering are expected to be used to help access new markets for the company’s cannabinoid portfolio, expedite the commercialization of new cannabinoids, access additional manufacturing capacity, working capital and general corporate purposes.

Travis Doupe, Willow’s chief financial officer commented that ”the Offering puts us in a strong financial position to pursue our goals in 2021, and provides further cash on hand to continue our work towards commercialization of cannabigerol (CBG) and scale-up development of our other portfolio cannabinoids.”

The offering was made under an underwriting agreement dated February 16, 2021, between the company and a syndicate of underwriters led by Eight Capital and BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and also including Canaccord Genuity Corp.

Under the agreement, the company paid the underwriters a cash commission equal to 6.0% of the gross proceeds of the offering. The company also issued the underwriters 1,045,488 common share purchase warrants, each entitling the underwriters to purchase one common share at a price of $2.15 for a period of 24 months from the offering closing date, subject to an acceleration trigger if the 20-day volume-weighted average of actual closing prices of the Willow’s common shares is greater than $3.05. Any unexercised compensation warrants shall automatically expire at the end of the accelerated exercise period.

Willow, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, produces high purity, plant-derived compounds that provide building blocks for the global pharmaceutical, health and wellness, and consumer packaged goods industries.

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