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New Leaf Ventures completes acquisition of High Profile, announces addition to management

(Globe Newswire) Vancouver – Further to the press releases dated October 3, 2022 and December 21, 2022, New Leaf Ventures Inc. has completed the acquisition of High Profile Holdings Corp. by way of a statutory three-cornered amalgamation.

High Profile began by operating its own retail stores under the Urban Canna banner at the onset of legalization and the management team gained invaluable knowledge and experience around the evolution of both cannabis and its consumers alike.

These industry and consumer behaviour insights informed a successful strategy and buildout of five retail locations in Alberta. High Profile created an elevated retail presence attracting established craft cannabis connoisseurs and discerning new customers demanding certainty, and leveraged this industry ingenuity to develop its own premium brand. High Profile subsequently sold the retail stores to a privately held Canadian corporation that now holds more than 40 stores throughout the country.

Now, with the ability to establish their store-within-a-store installations the High Profile management team are focused on providing followers a guided retail experience to access the brand’s rare and curated strains in dozens of stores across Canada. High Profile believes its unique advantage in the market is the direct and consistent connection between customer and cultivation, providing only quality products with each harvest.

Impressed by High Profile’s ability to build and operate successful retail outlets in such a short period of time, New Leaf is adding a management team with decades of experience in brand creation, product distribution and large-scale operational management. Jason Garnett will be joining New Leaf’s board of directors and initially acting as chief strategy officer, while Dean Medwid will take on the role of president and chief operating officer.

Mr. Garnett is a serial entrepreneur and corporate executive with many years of experience founding and leading consumer packaged goods and beverage companies in Canada and the United States, including Seattle’s Best Coffee Canada (acquired by Starbucks Corp. in 2007), e-grocery platform Spud.ca (operated by Freshlocal Solutions Inc.) and premium craft licensed producer Experion Biotechnologies Inc. (acquired by TSX-listed The Valens Company Inc. in 2021).

Over his nearly 30-year career, he has been recognized with numerous business awards and accolades, including Profit 100’s Top 100 in Canada five years in a row, B.C. Business Top 30 Under 30 and Top 40 Under 40, as well as a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Garnett currently serves as CEO and a director of CSE-listed Xebra Brands Ltd.

Mr. Medwid is a dynamic senior operation executive with more than 30 years of experience in both public and private markets with a focus on scalable process engineering, brand development and strategic partnerships. He has been recognized with numerous business awards and accolades, including Profit 100’s Top 100 in Canada five years in a row while a partner in Seattle’s Best Coffee Canada, and was recognized as one of Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40.

Mr. Medwid has a demonstrated history of increasing corporate performance through the management of process design, customer relationships and strategic planning along with a focused initiative of data-driven change management. Mr. Medwid utilized these skills to help lead Altrom, a division of a large public company. He recently launched Fourth Dimension Bio-tech, a supplements company focused on manufacturing consumer products utilizing specific cannabis generated isolates to support daily health regimes.