NEW YORK, May 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MTech
Acquisition Corp. (MTEC) (âMTechâ), the
first US-listed Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) focused
on acquiring a business ancillary to the cannabis industry, and MJ
Freeway LLC (âMJ Freewayâ), a leading seed-to-sale, regulatory
compliance technology provider and developer of the cannabis
industryâs first enterprise resource planning platform, today
announced that MTech Acquisition Holdings Inc.âs registration
statement on Form S-4, which includes MTechâs proxy statement in
connection with the proposed merger between MTech and MJ Freeway
under MTech Acquisition Holdings Inc. (to be renamed Akerna Corp.),
was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on
May 14, 2019.
MTech stockholders will be requested to vote on the proposed merger with MJ Freeway and related matters at a special meeting to be held on June 17, 2019. Shareholders of record as of May 13, 2019, will be entitled to vote at the special meeting.
As previously announced, the combined company will be named Akerna Corp. (âAkernaâ). Following the merger closing, Akernaâs shares and warrants are expected trade on the NASDAQ under the trading symbols âKERNâ and âKERNW,â respectively. Akernaâs management team will be led by MJ Freewayâs Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jessica Billingsley, who will continue to run day-to-day operations of the combined company. Additionally, Scott Sozio, CEO of MTech; Tahira Rehmatullah, MTechâs Chief Financial Officer (CFO); and Douglas Rothschild, MTech Senior Advisor, will be appointed to Akernaâs Board of Directors.
About MJ Freeway:
Founded in 2010, MJ Freeway is a large and growing regulatory
compliance and inventory management technology company. MJ
Freewayâs proprietary software platform is adaptable for industries
in which interfacing with government regulatory agencies for
compliance purposes is required, or where the tracking of organic
materials from seed or plant to end products is desired. Nine years
ago, MJ Freeway identified a need for organic material tracking and
regulatory compliance SaaS solutions in the growing cannabis and
hemp industry. It developed products intended to assist states in
monitoring licensed businessesâ compliance with state regulations,
and to help state-licensed businesses operate in compliance with
such law. MJ Freeway provides its regulatory software platform,
Leaf Data Systems®, to state government regulatory
agencies, and its business software platform, MJ
Platform®, to state-licensed businesses. MJ Freeway
currently has clients in 29 of the 33 U.S. states that have
legalized cannabis in some form, as well as the District of
Columbia. MJF also serves clients in Australia, Canada, Chile,
Colombia, Denmark, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland
and Uruguay. The Leaf Data Systems® and MJ
Platform® have combined tracked more than $13 billion in
medicinal and recreational cannabis sales to date.
As previously announced, MJ Freeway has entered into definitive agreements for a proposed merger with MTech.
About MTech Acquisition
Corp.
MTech Acquisition Corp. is a
blank check company formed for the purpose of entering into a
merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase,
recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business
combination with one or more businesses or entities. MTechâs
efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be
limited to a particular industry or geographic region, although
MTech intends to focus its search on companies ancillary to the
cannabis industry, with a particular sector focus that includes
compliance, business intelligence, brand development and
media.
MTech is led by Executive Chairman Steven Van Dyke and Chief
Executive Officer Scott Sozio.
Forward Looking
Statements:
Certain statements made in this release are âforward looking
statementsâ within the meaning of the âsafe harborâ provisions of
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
When used in this press release, the words âestimates,â
âprojected,â âexpects,â âanticipates,â âforecasts,â âplans,â
âintends,â âbelieves,â âseeks,â âmay,â âwill,â âshould,â âfuture,â
âproposeâ and variations of these words or similar expressions (or
the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to
identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or
results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of
which are outside MJ Freewayâs control, that could cause actual
results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in
the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others,
that may affect actual results or outcomes include: the inability
to obtain MTech stockholder approval of the business combination
with MJ Freeway; the inability to complete the transaction
contemplated by the merger agreement governing such business
combination because of failure of closing conditions or other
reasons; the inability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the
proposed business combination, which may be affected by, among
other things, the amount of cash available following any
redemptions by MTech stockholders; the ability of the new public
company formed for the proposed MJ Freeway-MTech business
combination (âPubcoâ) to meet the listing standards of The Nasdaq
Stock Market following the consummation of the transactions
contemplated by the merger agreement; costs related to the proposed
business combination; MJ Freewayâs ability to manage growth; the
reaction of MJ Freewayâs customers and suppliers to the business
combination; Pubcoâs ability to identify and integrate other future
acquisitions; rising costs adversely affecting MJ Freewayâs
profitability; adverse changes to the legal environment for the
cannabis industry; and general economic and market conditions
impacting demand for MJ Freewayâs products and services. See the
risk factors that have been disclosed in the Pubcoâs
proxy/registration statement, dated May 15, 2019, as filed with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 16, 2019, for
additional risks associated with the business combination. None of
MTech, Pubco or MJ Freeway undertakes any obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
law.
Participants in the
Solicitation
MTech, Pubco, MJ Freeway, and their
respective directors, executive officers and other members of their
management and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be
participants in the solicitation of proxies of MTech stockholders
in connection with the proposed business combination. Investors and
security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the
names, affiliations and interests of MTechâs directors in the final
prospectus for MTechâs initial public offering dated as of January
29, 2018 and that was filed with the SEC on January 30, 2018, and
well as in any annual reports on Form 10-K that may be filed with
the SEC. Additional information regarding the participants in the
proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect
interests will be contained in the proxy statement when it becomes
available.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication
shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an
offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of
securities in any jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation or
sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification
under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of
securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting
the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended.
MJ Freeway Media Contact:
Jon Goldberg / McKenna Miller
KCSA Strategic Communications
[email protected] /
[email protected]
(212) 896-1282 / (347) 487-6197