Cilo Cybin Holdings Limited (Cilo Cybin) has received the go-ahead to list Africa’s first Cannabis focused Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) on the Main Board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
The aim of the company is to acquire and invest in commercial enterprises operating in the biotech, biohacking or pharmaceutical sectors. The company positions itself as a disruptive international health solutions company that focuses on an individual’s wellness, performance, and longevity goals. This is guided by and underpinned by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that will collect, analyse, interpret, and produce diagnosis and treatment suggestions from all the data generated by the ‘eco system.’
Gabriel Theron, Founder and CEO of Cilo Cybin, says he’s delighted with JSE approval of the company’s listing and confident about raising the required capital to achieve immediate and long term goals. “We also intend to identify new fringe technologies and assist the creators of such technologies to take them to market. The SPAC will allow Cilo Cybin to acquire, partner and deploy these solutions on a global scale and in a short period of time - an exceptional opportunity for both institutional and private investors to participate in and benefit from the combined offering of Cilo Cybin with the goal to improve profitability and thereby maximising shareholder return.”
Cilo Cybin intends to acquire local and global businesses in the pharmaceutical and/or biotech and/or biohacking investment space and have the potential to be cash-generative or improve the service offering.
What is of specific interest to the agri industry is that the company expects to acquire a controlling interest in the cannabis industry in South Africa. Gabriel Theron is also the founder and main shareholder in Cilo Cybin Pharmaceutical Proprietary Limited (CCP). In May 2020 the cultivation facility received its GACP license from the regulator in South Africa, SAHPRA.
The second license for the manufacturing facility was obtained in the 3rd quarter of 2021, making CCP the first Company in South Africa to have both GACP and GMP cannabis licenses in one Company. Theron confirms CCP is a Viable Asset and will be considered.
Theron says it is estimated that the global legal cannabis market size, even with the regulatory constraints, will be $51 billion by 2025. “Medical cannabis is used for the treatment of various chronic conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, cancer, depression, anxiety, epilepsy, and other neurological conditions. Thus, a wide application scope has led to an increased product demand for the treatment of various chronic conditions.” Looking to the future and the role cannabis will play in the medical and recreational sectors globally, Theron believes the companies that will survive this incredibly complicated and regulated, yet lucrative market, will be the ones that established strong brands early in the race.
Cilo Cybin intends to create the largest cannabis processing facility on the African continent to support the medical cannabis cultivation industry for further beneficiation of the raw material in order to allow for the production of medical grade cannabis products for local and international markets. Cilo Cybin’s focus is the processing and manufacturing of branded product says Theron. Theron is keen to work closely with the industry to meet the demand and facilitate an accelerated access route to market that can benefit everyone.
Cilo Cybin will also focus on various industries that include biotech, cannabis, psychedelics, biohacking, wearable devices and custom nutrition. The Prospectus highlights the exceptional global growth potential of each of these industries.
As an example, the global biotech market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 16.83% to surpass the USD 1 trillion mark in 2022, and the global biotechnology market and expected to reach USD 3.44 trillion in size by 2030.. “Looking forward, the combination of advances in biological science and accelerating developments in technology and AI has the potential to take innovation to a new level. A recent report from the McKinsey Global Institute analysed the profound economic and social impact of biological innovation and found that biomolecules, biosystems, bio machines, and biocomputing could collectively produce up to 60 percent of the physical inputs to the global economy.”
According to Theron, the psychedelic drugs market is growing rapidly due to the increasing prevalence of depression and other mental disorders worldwide.
Biohacking uses technologies, apps, devices, and supplementation in pursuit of better health, performance, and longevity, Theron refers to the global wearable medical devices market which is expected to grow from $8.35 billion (R125 billion) in 2020 to $10.28 billion (R154 billion) in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.1%. These devices range from measuring your sleep, nervous systems, cellular and artery health to stress and inflammation levels. Over and above these measuring devices, other devices include light, electric, heat and cold therapy treatments to name a few.”
In conclusion Theron believes the world is entering a new era of personalised healthcare, a world in which each person's health and wellbeing will require bespoke, individualised and intelligently targeted interventions. “We have built ourselves and our services on the three pillars of Health, Performance and Longevity.”
Cilo Cybin’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) opens on Monday, 12 September and closes on Friday, 4 November. The IPO aims to raise a minimum of R500 million by way of a public offer for subscription by investors for a minimum of 500 million Offer Shares in the company at an issue price of R1 per Ordinary Share so as to enable a listing on the Main Board of the JSE.
To participate in the IPO please send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For further information please contact:
Koos Nel Jacques Verster
Cell: 082 459 1407 Cell: 083 276 9009
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