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Halo Collective Congratulates Akanda Corp. on Successful First Day of Nasdaq Trading

N.HALO | March 16, 2022

All Figures in USD Unless Otherwise Stated

TORONTO, March 16, 2022 /CNW/ - Halo Collective Inc. ("Halo" or the "Company") (NEO: HALO) (OTCQB: HCANF) (Germany: A9KN) today congratulated Akanda Corp. ("Akanda"), an international medical cannabis company in which Halo is the largest shareholder, on its successful first day of trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market.

Akanda's common shares began trading today, March 15, under the ticker symbol "AKAN," and closed normal trading on March 15, 2022, at $10.50 with a high of $31.00 and a low of $8.18 on volume of 1,356,331 shares. Halo is Akanda's largest shareholder owning 12,674,957 common shares of Akanda.

Halo agreed to enter into a lock-up agreement with Akanda and Boustead Securities LLC, pursuant to which Halo shall not offer, issue, sell, contract to sell, encumber, grant any option for the sale of, or otherwise dispose of, any of our securities for a period of 270 days from the date on which the trading of our Common Shares on Nasdaq commences (the "Lock-Up Trigger Date"), subject to customary carve-outs. The lock-up agreement will permit that up to 50% of our securities held by Halo may be sold or transferred from the 271st day through the 365th day following the Lock-Up Trigger Date, and the remaining 50% of such securities may be sold or transferred without the lock-up restrictions beginning on the 366th day following the Lock-Up Trigger Date. The lock-up restrictions shall not prohibit Halo from selling or transferring such number of our Common Shares to comply with the Ownership Limitation.

About Halo Collective

Halo is a leading, vertically integrated cannabis company focused on the West Coast of the United States and operates other emerging businesses in CBD and non-psychotropic mushroom functional beverages. In its cannabis operations, the Company cultivates, extracts, manufactures, and distributes quality cannabis flower, oils, and concentrates and has sold hundreds of millions of grams of cannabis in the form of flower, pre-rolls, vape carts, edibles, and concentrates since inception. The Company sells a portfolio of branded cannabis products including its proprietary Hush™, Winberry Farms™, Williams Wonder Farms, and Budega™ brands, and under license agreements with Papa's Herb®, DNA Genetics, Terphogz, and FlowerShop*.

In Oregon, Halo has a combined 14 acres of owned and contracted outdoor and greenhouse cultivation. The Company also operates Food Concepts LLC, a master tenant of a 55,000 square foot indoor cannabis cultivation, processing, and wholesaling facility in Portland.

In California, Halo maintains licenses for extraction, manufacturing, and distribution. The Company has partnered with Green Matter to purchase the Bar X Farm in Lake County and plans to develop up to 63 acres of cultivation, comprising one of the largest licensed single-site grows in California. Halo has opened a dispensary in Los Angeles under the Budega™ brand in North Hollywood and plans to open two more in Hollywood, and Westwood by the 2nd quarter of 2022.

Halo is also expanding into other consumer health and wellness categories expected to experience rapid growth in consumer demand, including functional supplements such as nootropic nutraceuticals. The Company has recently agreed to acquire H2C Beverages, a company focused on cannabinoids and non-psychotropic mushroom functional beverages, and entered into a distribution and manufacturing agreement with Elegance Brands Inc., to propel the national distribution of beverages, capsules, and topical supplements under H2C and Halo's functional mushroom brand, Hushrooms.

Halo has acquired a range of software development assets, including CannPOS, Cannalift, CannaFeels, and a discrete sublingual dosing technology, Accudab. The Company intends to reorganize these entities (including their intellectual property and patent applications) into a subsidiary called Halo Tek Inc., and to complete a distribution of the shares of Halo Tek Inc. to shareholders on record, at a date to be determined.

Halo also operates three Kushbar retail cannabis stores located in Alberta, Canada.

Outside of North America, Halo is the largest shareholder of Akanda (NASDAQ: AKAN). Akanda is an international medical cannabis and wellness platform company seeking to help people lead better lives through improved access to high quality and affordable products. The Company is building a seed-to-patient supply chain, connecting patients in the UK and Europe with diverse products, including cannabis products cultivated at its competitively advantaged grow operation in the Kingdom of Lesotho and with other trusted third-party brands. Akanda's initial portfolio includes Bophelo Bioscience & Wellness, a GACP qualified cultivation campus in the Kingdom of Lesotho in Southern Africa, and CanMart, a UK-based fully licensed pharmaceutical importer and distributor which supplies pharmacies and clinics within the UK.

For further information regarding Halo, see Halo's disclosure documents on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

www.haloco.com/investors

Connect with Halo Collective: Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

For further information regarding Akanda, see Akanda's disclosure documents on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only Halo's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Halo's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". Forward-looking information may relate to anticipated events or results including, but not limited to management's plans regarding its portfolio of cannabis businesses, the Company's expansion plans regarding Canada, the expected size and capabilities of the final facility planned at Ukiah Ventures, the size of Halo's planned cultivation facility in Northern California, the ability of Bophelo and Canmart to serve the UK and European markets, and the proposed spin-off by Halo Tek Inc.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Halo is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Halo has made certain assumptions. Although Halo believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Among others, the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: inability of management to successfully integrate the operations of acquired businesses, changes in the consumer market for cannabis products, changes in the expected outcomes of the proposed changes to Halo's operations, delays in obtaining required licenses or approvals necessary for the build-out of Oregon operations, dispensaries or Canadian operations, the proposed spin-out with Halo Tek Inc., delays or unforeseen costs incurred in connection with construction, the ability of competitors to scale operations in Northern California, delays or unforeseen difficulties in connection with the cultivation and harvest of Halo's raw material, changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; and the other risks disclosed in the Company's annual information form dated March 31, 2021 and other disclosure documents available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Halo does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to Halo or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

Non-Solicitation

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell nor the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.