GenCanna Global USA, Inc. filed a petition for voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky. The filing will allow GenCanna to continue to operate its business without interruption to customers, vendors, partners, and employees while working through a reorganization plan that could include the refinancing of the company’s existing indebtedness, or an alternative restructuring transaction such as a sale.
GenCanna has obtained approximately $10 million in post-petition debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from its senior lender, which, subject to Court approval, will provide the company with liquidity to maintain its operations in the ordinary course of business during the Chapter 11 process.
CEO Matty Mangone-Miranda said, “We are taking this action in order to position our business for success in a highly dynamic and rapidly evolving industry. While this is certainly not the outcome we desired, the bankruptcy process gives us the ability to move forward in a way that allows us to best continue operations and serve customers as we work through our reorganization, resolve an outstanding legal dispute involving our Western Kentucky facility, navigate an uncertain regulatory environment and adjust our annual operating costs to better match the landscape.
Through this restructuring, we plan to address certain structural issues that we could not fix on our own. We are grateful for the continued support of our existing senior lender, who recognizes the strength of our brand, and we will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of our employees, farmers, and vendor partners.”
GenCanna was founded in 2014, as an inaugural member of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Industrial Hemp Pilot Program, the company is a longstanding industry pioneer. GenCanna is a founding board member of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable. Launched in early 2017, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable is a coalition of over 70 hemp companies – representing every link of the product chain, from seed to sale – and all of the industry’s major national grassroots organizations. The US Hemp Roundtable has secured the passage of bi-partisan legislation in the U.S. Congress that established hemp federally as an agricultural commodity, permanently removing it from regulation as a controlled substance.
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