Hill Dickinson advises Yooma on £10.2m acquisition of CBD market leader

Leading commercial law firm Hill Dickinson has advised global health and wellbeing platform Yooma Wellness Inc on its purchase of Birmingham-based Vitality CBD Limited for a total consideration of up to £10.2 million, via the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Yooma Europe Limited.

Yooma, which develops and markets a portfolio of CBD and wellness brands, says the purchase will provide a significant source of recurring revenue through Vitality’s presence at mainstream retail outlets including Boots, Tesco, Asda and Lloyds Pharmacy. It will also expand the target customer base and distribution network for the Yooma group’s existing European-focused brands, including plant nutrition platform, MYO.

The deal is the first acquisition by Canadian-listed Yooma Wellness since it completed the dual-listing of its shares on the AQSE Growth Market in London on 10 August 2021, a transaction on which it was also advised by Hill Dickinson.

Corporate legal director Sam Hudson and associate Lizzie Jones advised Yooma on the acquisition, with support from Eleri Williams and Jasmine Fleming-Gilmore (Life Sciences), Emma Collins (IP and Commercial), Will Steed and Suzanne Mainwaring (Employment), Stephen Betts (Tax) and Emma McIntosh (Property). This transaction follows a number of cannabis sector transactions completed by Hill Dickinson in recent years and sees the firm continue to be at the forefront of providing services in this niche area.

Sam Hudson commented: “It has been a pleasure working with Yooma on this transaction and to assist them in delivering their strategy for growth following their dual listing in London earlier this month. We wish them every success as they look to develop the Vitality brand further.”

Lorne Aborny, chair of Yooma, said: “Completing the acquisition of Vitality is the first step of the strategic plan the company outlined to investors at the time of our UK financing and dual listing - to buy and build companies globally, focused on materially increasing the company’s top-line revenue, leveraging the group’s integrated supply chain to drive margin growth, and expanding distribution for the existing product portfolio. This acquisition will help accelerate our growth by exporting these branded products to other Yooma jurisdictions and integrating with our MYO Plant Nutrition operations and distribution.  Vitality is a market leader in the UK with presence in major retail outlets such as Boots, Tesco, Asda and Lloyds Pharmacy and we look forward to working with the team at Vitality.

“Thank you to Sam and the rest of the Hill Dickinson team for assisting us in respect of another significant transaction.”