Unrivaled Brands CEO Frank Knuettel Sets 2022 Growth and Operating Strategy

SANTA ANA, Calif., Feb. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Unrivaled Brands, Inc. (OTCQX: UNRV) (“Unrivaled” or the “Company”) today provides a summary of its 2022 growth and operating strategy.

After taking over as CEO a little over a year ago, we developed and announced a strategic plan to strengthen and expand our business by leveraging our experience as one of the earliest West Coast multi-state cannabis operators (“MSO”). This careful forethought has served us well despite challenges we encountered in certain markets in where we operate. We remain keenly aware of certain headwinds in our statewide markets, but because of a whole host of factors – including market size, valuations and return on investment, industry fragmentation, history, and others – we believe maintaining our focus on operating as a West Coast MSO is the best path forward for the Company and will continue paying dividends. Further, due to the intense competition in the West Coast markets, both product development and retail experiences have matured significantly faster than elsewhere, providing a unique opportunity to understand what the future may hold in other geographic markets. At the same time, we were able to develop playbooks for when advanced competition comes from currently limited license markets or when we venture into new states.

This strategic and concentrated focus doesn’t mean that we don’t believe there may be worthwhile opportunities in other geographic markets in the future, but rather we believe that the benefits of the West Coast markets are so profound that we feel there is a very clear route and considerable financial and operating upside on this path to become one of the dominant West Coast MSOs. We believe the benefits and value of a continued focus on the West Coast are as follows:

• The West Coast, and California in particular, are the birthplace of cannabis culture and the market-leading position, cultivation climate and history has resulted in an environment where California grows the best cannabis in North America.
  
  
• California is the largest market in the country, and along with Oregon, represents as much as 30% of the national market, which is important during this period of federal illegality in which every state is a separate market.
  
  
• Many of the world’s most iconic brands have been created in California and by virtue of its size and customer base, along with its cannabis culture and history, we believe that many of the country’s leading cannabis brands will continue to come from California as the markets continue to develop.
  
  
• Because of the fragmentation at the state level, many of the large MSOs are focused on limited licenses in Midwest and East Coast states, limiting competition to be an aggregator of cannabis assets.
  
  
• At the same time, California and Oregon markets are highly fragmented, providing us with a clear path towards potentially acquiring smaller firms at reasonable valuations, setting the stage for possible higher future return on investments and shareholders returns than we might receive in limited license states.
  

Considering these factors and others, we are determined to build the premier, vertically integrated asset footprint in the West Coast states in which we operate. To implement this vision, we completed a series of mergers and acquisitions that have placed us on the path towards realizing early goals. First was the merger with UMBRLA in early July 2021, followed by the acquisitions of Silver Streak Solutions and People’s. These transactions provided us with a growing network of brands, expanded distribution capabilities and access to customers and patients through retail and delivery throughout Oregon and California.

As much as we have done in the last year, we are not finished with our plans to execute this vision. Going forward, we intend to continue to seek to expand our brand portfolio and footprint, focusing on three pillars:

• Acquiring additional brands that complement our portfolio and continuing to develop those brands into notable top performers in our own stores, our delivery operations and in the broader market through our distribution network. Through our distribution network, we sell to approximately 425 dispensaries every ninety days in California and 325 dispensaries every ninety days in Oregon.
  
  
• Controlling significant shelf and menu placement through expansion of our dispensary and delivery footprint via acquisition of existing geographically dispersed dispensaries, buildout of licenses and applications we own in Riverside, CA and elsewhere and attaining additional licenses in newly approved jurisdictions. With this initiative, we intend to seek to control a robust network of dispensaries and delivery providers and provide access to our products to a large portion of the California and Oregon consumers.
  
  
• Launching a formal licensing program to license our brands in states in which we don’t currently operate or license. It is our belief that California cannabis brands are the most prominent, storied, and significant cannabis brands in the world and that there is a strong market for these brands across the nation.
  

In closing, I would like to also share that we have a very robust pipeline of opportunities as the value of the vertical operating network and footprint becomes more important. We have been successful in integrating companies we have acquired, and importantly the people associated with those companies, while maintaining our roots and culture, which we feel is an important attribute to our ongoing success. As one of the few publicly listed companies with this focus, we believe we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the current market consolidation and become one of the dominant West Coast MSOs. Along the way, we expect to retain our focus on our strategy with a keen eye to financial performance and shareholder returns.

About Unrivaled Brands

Unrivaled Brands is a multi-state vertically integrated company focused on the cannabis sector with operations in California and Oregon. In California, Unrivaled Brands operates five dispensaries, a state-wide distribution network, and two cultivation facilities, and has up to four additional dispensaries under development. In Oregon, we operate a state-wide distribution network. Among other brands, Unrivaled Brands is home to Korova, the market leader in high potency products across multiple product categories, currently available in California, Oregon, Arizona, and Oklahoma, as well as Sticks and Cabana. For more info, please visit: unrivaledbrands.com. For more info, please visit: https://unrivaledbrands.com.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this communication regarding matters that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, known as the PSLRA. These include statements regarding management's intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations, or forecasts for the future, and, therefore, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on them. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law. We use words such as "anticipates," "believes," "plans," "expects," "projects," "future," "intends," "may," "will," "should," "could," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continue," "guidance," and similar expressions to identify these forward-looking statements that are intended to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions of the PSLRA. Such forward-looking statements are based on our expectations and involve risks and uncertainties; consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the statements due to a number of factors.

New factors emerge from time-to-time and it is not possible for us to predict all such factors, nor can we assess the impact of each such factor on the business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. These risks, as well as other risks associated with the combination, will be more fully discussed in our reports with the SEC. Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed from time to time with the SEC. Forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to Company as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

Contact:
Jason Assad
LR Advisors LLC.
jassad@unrivaledbrands.com
678-570-6791

For media inquiries:
Nic Johnson
Russo Partners
Nic.johnson@russopartnersllc.com
303-482-6405

Released February 23, 2022