TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Liberty Health Sciences Inc. (“Liberty”) has named seasoned executive George Scorsis as Chief Executive Officer and Director, effective immediately. Scorsis comes to Liberty with over 15 years’ experience as a leader in highly regulated industries experiencing rapid growth, including alcohol, energy drinks and, most recently, medical cannabis.
Scorsis brings a wealth of experience to the industry, with an extensive background in managing growth within highly regulated environments. He served as President of Red Bull Canada and was instrumental in restructuring the organization from a geographical and operational perspective, and growing the business to $150 MM in revenue. In that role, he also worked closely with Health Canada on guidelines regulating the energy drink category. Most recently, Scorsis was with Mettrum Health Corp. as President and was fundamental in shaping MettrumTM & Mettrum OriginalsTM. Under his leadership, the company was acquired for $430 M.
Liberty was launched to acquire and operate U.S.-based companies in the medical cannabis market. Recently and as its first transaction, Liberty entered into an exclusive Management Agreement with Chestnut Hill Tree Farm, LLC (“Chestnut”) which grants the company all economic risk and rewards associated with the Florida-based operation. Chestnut is a nursery authorized by the Florida Department of Health, Office of Compassionate Use, as a dispensing organization of medical cannabis to patients in need in the State of Florida. Chestnut holds one of seven licenses granted in Florida. Under Scorsis’ leadership, Liberty will continue to target, for expansion, key U.S. states that have approved medical use of marijuana and meets its stringent investment criteria.
“I’ve had the privilege of helping build major brands over the last decade and the current opportunity that exists with Liberty is what I’ve been waiting for my whole career,” said Scorsis. “There is tremendous opportunity in the medical cannabis industry, especially when you have an experienced, dedicated team in place focused on organic growth and strategic acquisitions. We are going to be bold in our approach.”
Currently, cannabis is the fastest growing industry in the U.S., with almost 300,000 projected jobs and annual medical sales of $13.3-billion by 20201. The U.S. offers a large population of medical cannabis users and grants limited licenses, making it an ideal country to grow Liberty’s business. Scorsis plans to be based in the U.S. to lead the Liberty team.
Interim Liberty CEO Michael Galloro, will be moving to the role of Director. With today’s announcement, Scorsis also replaces Brady Cobb as Director of Liberty.
For more information on Liberty please visit www.libertyhealthsciences.com.
About Liberty Health Sciences Inc.
Liberty Health Sciences Inc. (“Liberty”) is an investor and operator in the medical cannabis market, capitalizing on new and existing opportunities in the United States. Liberty’s stringent investment criteria for expansion maximizes returns to shareholders, while focusing on significant near and mid-term opportunities. Liberty has an extensive background in highly regulated industries, with expertise in becoming a low-cost producer. Liberty leverages commercial greenhouse knowledge to deliver high-quality, clean and safe pharmaceutical grade cannabis to patients.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “may”, “should”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “believe”, “intend” or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, expectations related to the Company’s future expansion and growth strategies. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; marketing costs; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments involving medical marijuana; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favorable terms; the medical marijuana industry in the United States generally, income tax and regulatory matters; the ability of Liberty to implement its business strategies; competition; crop failure; currency and interest rate fluctuations and other risks.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
