don't pay there bills?
Valens Groworks sued over $500,000 finder's fee
2020-01-20 11:40 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Valens Groworks Corp. is facing a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of British Columbia from a Quebec company over a $500,000 finder's fee. According to the suit, Valens was to pay the fee upon the sale of its Supra THC Services Inc. subsidiary in 2018, but has neglected or refused to do so. The suit is seeking the court-ordered payment.
The allegations are contained in a brief notice of claim filed at the Vancouver courthouse on Jan. 15, 2020, by Allyson Taylor Partners Inc. of Quebec. According to the suit, Valens hired Allyson Taylor in January, 2018, to act as an adviser. Among other things, Allyson Taylor was to identify acquisition and sales opportunities for Valens, the suit states.
To that end, Valens sought help selling its Supra THC subsidiary in March, 2018. According to the suit, Supra held a cannabis production licence from Health Canada. Allyson Taylor claims that it agreed to help with the sale in return for a $500,000 finder's fee. The fee was to be payable in shares.
Allyson Taylor says that it eventually located in a buyer in Australia, a company called RotoGro International Ltd. According to the suit, Allyson Taylor approached RotoGro and attended meetings with all parties. Those efforts, as set out in the lawsuit, led to RotoGro entering into an $11-million deal with Valens on Oct. 29, 2018.
This is where, at least according to Allyson Taylor, the problems began. It says that after the deal closed, it requested its fee, which was to be delivered in instalments. The first payment was due on Dec. 31, 2018. Valens refused or neglected to send the shares, the suit states.
Allyson Taylor is seeking the court-ordered issuance of the shares or appropriate damages. Vancouver lawyer Scott Stephens of Owen Bird Law Corp. filed the suit on behalf of Allyson Taylor. Valens has not yet filed a response.
It is not entirely clear what the dollar amount of any damages would be, should Allyson Taylor win. According to the suit, the fee was to be paid in shares, but Valens has increased in value substantially since the date of the first payment, Dec. 31, 2018. On that date, the stock was at $1.43. Valens closed at $3.76 Monday, down 16 cents.