Inner Spirit Holdings Ltd. (CSE:ISH) today announced it has closed the first tranche of its previously announced investment agreement with Tilray, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLRY) and its wholly owned subsidiary High Park Holdings Ltd.

Pursuant to the closing, Inner Spirit received $2.25 million in consideration for the issuance of 11,335,013 common shares of Inner Spirit at a deemed price of approximately $0.1985 per share.

This is the first tranche of a total investment of $4.5 million by Tilray into Inner Spirit. Pursuant to the terms of the Investment Agreement, on the third business day following the date which is six months after closing of the first tranche, subject to certain conditions in favour of each party, Tilray and Inner Spirit will exchange common shares valued at an additional $2.25 million based on the 10 day volume-weighted average price of each company’s shares at the time of issuance.

“Partnerships and cross investments are key strategies we’re using at Inner Spirit to grow our Spiritleaf retail brand and create value for investors in the cannabis market. We see Tilray’s investment as an endorsement of the Spiritleaf store concept by a leading industry player as we prepare to further extend the Spiritleaf brand throughout Canada with High Park’s product portfolio highlighted in our retail locations. We look forward to a long and mutually rewarding relationship with Tilray and High Park,” said Darren Bondar, President and CEO of Inner Spirit.

Inner Spirit has extensive franchise, marketing, real-estate and retail experience that it is leveraging to establish a chain of branded cannabis retail outlets across Canada under the Spiritleaf banner (www.spiritleaf.ca). To date, Spiritleaf has five corporate stores and more than 100 franchises in various stages of development with four franchise stores currently selling cannabis to consumers in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

About Inner Spirit

Inner Spirit is establishing a chain of recreational cannabis dispensaries under its Spiritleaf brand. Supporting local entrepreneurs by applying its award-winning franchise and retail models, Inner Spirit has four dispensaries in operation in Alberta and Saskatchewan, with more than 100 franchise agreements in place for potential Spiritleaf locations and plans to operate corporate dispensaries in certain jurisdictions. Developing a diverse portfolio of quality and curated lifestyle cannabis products – including Spiritleaf’s own locally sourced lines – Inner Spirit’s Spiritleaf brand is positioned to be an iconic Canadian brand and the most trusted source for recreational cannabis.