Listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol ("AFI")
VANCOUVER , Jan. 17, 2019 /CNW/ - Affinor
Growers Inc. ("AFI" or the "Company") (CSE: AFI, OTC: RSSFF, Frankfurt:1AF) provides an update on the BCSC temporary
order issued on November 26, 2018 (the "Temporary Order") by the Executive Director of the
BCSC. The Temporary Order prevented the Company from making a distribution of securities to a consultant using the exemption
from prospectus requirements, contained in Section 2.24 of National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions (the
"Consultant Exemption"). On December 7, 2018, a hearing was held to extend the Temporary
Order in which the Company was named as a respondent, by virtue of being 1 of the 11 named issuers that entered into consulting
agreements with certain other members listed in the group of respondents (the "Consultants") for services ranging from accounting
and finance to marketing. The Consultants were participants in the $3.99M financing completed
in March 2018.
On January 15, 2019, the BCSC issued a panel decision on the application to extend the Temporary
Order considered at the December 7, 2018 hearing, which stated that the Temporary Order issued
against the Company would not be extended due to the evidence, at this time, not meeting the legal threshold required to
demonstrate that the Company engaged in conduct contrary to the public interest. The BCSC continues to investigate the
matters that gave rise to the Temporary Order, which includes allegations of inappropriate use of the Consultant Exemption (the
"BCSC Investigation"). The panel's decision relates only to the evidence and application before the panel at the time of the
December 7, 2018 hearing, and as such, future findings regarding any alleged violation of
securities law or conduct contrary to the public interest may be different. The next scheduled panel hearing, as it relates
to the BCSC Investigation, is slated for April 9, 2019.
The complete text of the panel decision can be found at:
https://www.bcsc.bc.ca/Enforcement/Decisions/PDF/2019_BCSECCOM_14/
Message from the CEO
"It was unfortunate the Company was named in this Temporary Order and it has definitely had a negative impact on the Company's
reputation. I understand many of the Company's shareholders have been waiting for AFI to make a statement in regards to this
issue. Before making any statement, I wanted to take time to gain additional information from the BCSC to understand the
scope of the temporary order before providing any update. To this end, I personally attended the December 7th, 2018 BCSC temporary order extension hearing in order to gain a better understanding of
the BCSC investigation. Since the hearing, the Company has been cooperating with the BCSC, and will continue to do so until
the BCSC Investigation has concluded.
I expect it will be some time before this is fully resolved, however, not having the Temporary Order extended is a good first
step for AFI. I will continue to update the shareholders on any new developments as they become available.
While the BCSC continues its investigation, the Chairman and I continue to work diligently to move the Company forward, bring
value to our shareholders and more importantly, advance the technology to commercialization. I understand the past year has seen
many ups and downs along with many changes within the organization. I have personally spoken to several shareholders and
they have expressed their frustration with the lack of advancement with the AFI technology and the lack of a Company showcase for
the technology. We are currently working on putting together an updated business plan to address these issues as well as many
other issues that have been communicated to me by shareholders and other stakeholders.
I look forward to providing the shareholders of AFI a more detailed corporate update about our progress to date and future
plans in the near future."
Randy Minhas
President and CEO
About Affinor Growers
Affinor Growers is a publicly traded company on
the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol ("AFI"). Affinor is focused on growing high quality crops such as romaine
lettuce, spinach, strawberries using its vertical farming techniques. Affinor is committed to becoming a pre-eminent supplier of
vertical farming technology.
Neither Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the
Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release may contain assumptions, estimates, and other forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such
forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are subject to factors, many of which are beyond the
Company's control that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those currently anticipated in such
statements.
AFFINOR GROWERS INC.
www.affinorgrowers.com
SOURCE Affinor Growers Inc.
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