VFF Ready To Run Up Again

Emerald Health exercises an option to almost double production

Last week, British Columbia-based Emerald Health Therapeutics (NASDAQOTH:EMHTF)announced that it would be exercising one of its lease options regarding its Pure Sunfarms joint venture with Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF). In doing so, it nearly doubled its peak production potential.

Back in 2017, Emerald Health and Village Farms created the 50-50 Pure Sunfarms joint venture with the idea of retrofitting Village Farms' existing vegetable-growing greenhouses to cannabis production. The initial outlay involved 1.1 million square feet of vegetable-growing space that, when complete, would house 1.03 million square feet of cultivation area and yield at least 75,000 kilos per year. Thus far, approximately 825,000 square feet of cultivation space has been licensed by Health Canada at the Delta 3 facility, with the remainder expected to be licensed very soon.

However, the joint venture featured an option for Emerald Health to acquire up to 3.7 million square feet of additional growing space from Village Farms to be used for cannabis production. On Monday, April 1, Emerald Health exercised its option for a second 1.1-million-square-foot facility (to be known as Delta 2), and announced its intent to purchase 25% of the aggregate production from Delta 2 and Delta 3 in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Emerald Health is expected to commit roughly 25 million Canadian dollars to help construct Delta 2, with positive operating cash flow from the joint venture funding the remaining CA$35 million (the Delta 3 facility cost CA$60 million).

It's worth noting that the Delta 3 greenhouse was built with an automated nursery -- and since it's adjacent to the Delta 2 facility, this nursery will allow the Delta 2 facility to utilize more space for cultivation than Delta 3.

More importantly, it doubles the peak annual output of Pure Sunfarms to at least 150,000 kilos. Inclusive of the company's Verdelite facility in Quebec, this move nearly doubles Emerald Health's capacity from 47,000 kilos to 84,500 kilos. Of course, with the company's Metro Vancouver space and the potential for acquiring up to 2.6 million square feet in additional grow space from Village Farms, peak yearly output should exceed 100,000 kilos.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/04/08/this-marijuana-stock-nearly-doubled-its-peak-produ.aspx