Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

INVESTMENTS

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INVESTMENTS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]  
INVESTMENTS INVESTMENTS
Cansativa
On December 21, 2018, the Company, through its subsidiary Northern Swan Deutschland Holdings, Inc., entered into a seed investment agreement with the existing stockholders of Cansativa GmbH (“Cansativa”), a German limited liability company primarily focused on the import and sale of cannabis products for medical use and related supplements and nutraceuticals. Prior to the Company’s investment, Cansativa’s registered and fully paid-in share capital amounted to 26,318 common shares. Under the investment agreement, the Company has agreed with the existing stockholders to invest up to EUR 7,000 in Cansativa in three separate tranches of, respectively, EUR 1,000, EUR 3,000 and up to a further EUR 3,000. The first EUR 1,000 (specifically, EUR 999.915, approximately $1,075, or “Seed Financing Round”) was invested in Cansativa to subscribe for 3,096 newly issued preferred voting shares at EUR 322.97 per preferred share, and as cash contributions from the Company to Cansativa. The seed EUR 322.97 per share price was based on a fully diluted pre-money valuation for Cansativa of EUR 8,500, and the increase of Cansativa’s registered share capital by the 3,096 preferred shares in the Seed Financing Round provided the Company with 10.53% of the total equity ownership of Cansativa. The Company paid the seed investment subscription by, first, an initial nominal payment of EUR 3.1, (i.e., EUR 1.00 per share) upon signing the investment agreement to demonstrate the Company’s intent to invest, and the remainder of EUR 996.819 was settled in January 2019 to officially close the investment deal after certain closing conditions have been met by the existing stockholders and Cansativa. The Company accounts for its investment in Cansativa using the equity accounting method, due to the Company's significant influence, in accordance with ASC 323, Investments — Equity Method and Joint Ventures. The Company used the practical expedient available under ASU 2016-01 and measured the Tranche 2 Option of the Cansativa equity investments at cost for the year ended December 31, 2019.
The Company recorded its investment in Cansativa at the cost basis of an aggregated amount of EUR 999.915, approximately $1,075, which is comprised of EUR 3.096 for the initial nominal amount of the Seed Financing Round and EUR 996.819 for the remaining Seed Financing Round (i.e., Capital Reserve Payment), with no transaction costs. Subsequent to the Seed Financing Round, the Company has an option, within 18 months after the Signing Date, to increase its investment in Cansativa by subscribing to up to 9,289 newly issued (additional) preferred shares (“Tranche 2 Option”) for an amount of up to EUR 3,000.06833 based on the same seed share price of EUR 322.97. When the Tranche 2 Option is exercised from time to time, the Company is entitled to subscribe to a number of up to 578 additional Seed Preferred Shares (in case of full exercise of the Tranche 2 Option) for their respective nominal value of EUR 1.00. The Company estimated that the value of the Tranche 2 Option at the time of the initial investment was approximately EUR 419 ($450). The Company’s equity method investment at the time of Seed Financing Round was approximately 10.53% of the book value of Cansativa’s net assets of approximately EUR 1,100, and approximately EUR 465 of equity method goodwill, as Cansativa was a newly formed entity with limited identifiable assets to which a significant fair value could be applied. As of December 31, 2019, the Company’s options to
acquire additional shares in Cansativa are accounted for as equity instruments within the scope of ASC 321, Investments — Equity Securities.
In accordance with the seed investment agreement, in September 2019, the Company made an additional investment of approximately EUR 650, or approximately $722, for 2,138 shares in Cansativa, thereby increasing its equity ownership to 16.6% of the book value of Cansativa’s net assets of approximately EUR 1,233, and approximately EUR 1,122 of equity method goodwill as Cansativa was still in the process of getting the licenses and expanding its operations. Value of remaining Tranche 2 option was estimated at approximately EUR 322. As of September 30, 2020, balance of Tranche 2 option expired unexercised and as a result the Company recognized a loss on investment of approximately $370 in its Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Loss and the carrying value of the Tranche 2 option was reduced to nil.

In December 2020, Cansativa allocated shares of its common stock to a newly-installed employee-stock ownership plan (“ESOP”). As a result of the ESOP installment, the Company’s equity ownership of Cansativa, on a fully-diluted basis, decreased from 16.59% to 15.80% of the book value of Cansativa’s net assets. Additionally, Cansativa raised additional capital through the issuance of Series A preferred stock (“Cansativa Series A Shares”) to a third-party investor at a per share price of EURO 543.31. As a result of the Series A Share issuance, the Company’s equity ownership of Cansativa, on a fully diluted basis, decreased from 15.80% to 14.22% of the book value of Cansativa’s net assets. The Company accounted for the transaction as a proportionate sales of ownership share and recognized a gain of approximately $211 in its consolidated statement of operations within loss on investments line. This change did not impact the equity method classification.
For the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company’s share of net losses from the investment were $4 and $96, respectively.

Lift & Co.
The Company has an equity investment comprised of common shares and warrants in Lift, a cannabis-focused technology and media company and a leading cannabis brand and product aggregator and reviewer in the cannabis market. Lift is publicly listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: LIFT). This investment qualified for equity method accounting upon acquisition in August 2017 as the Company had significant influence through its board representation.
The Company recorded the carrying amount of the equity method investment equal to the cost basis of approximately $923, the cost of the consideration transferred equal to approximately 14% share of the book value of Lift’s net assets of approximately $876, and approximately $800 of equity method goodwill.
In September 2018, upon Lift’s initial public offering, the Company gave up its significant influence over Lift by forfeiting the board representation, and at such time the investment was no longer qualified to be accounted for under the equity method. As of December 31, 2019, the Company owned approximately 8% of Lift’s issued and outstanding common shares.

The Company has classified the investment as an equity instrument as of December 31, 2019 following the adoption of ASU 2016-01. As a result, for the period ending December 31, 2019 the Company had recorded loss on its Lift investment of approximately $756 and reclassified to opening retained earnings unrecognized gains of approximately $1,191, previously reported in accumulated other comprehensive income. The carrying value of the Company’s investment in the Lift shares at December 31, 2019 was approximately $319.

On January 19, 2019, the issuer-imposed sale or transfer restriction on the underlying stock in the warrants lapsed, at which time the warrants met the definition of a derivative to be accounted for under ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging. The Company performed a valuation of the warrants and recognized an asset for approximately $598. A gain of approximately $233, equal to the change in fair value from December 31, 2018 to January 19, 2019, was recognized in the consolidated statement of net income/loss. As the derivative did not meet the criteria for special hedge accounting and as a result the Company recognized the warrants as a derivative at fair value, with changes in fair value recognized in profit or loss. The fair value of the derivative instrument at December 31, 2019 was approximately $57 and as a result the Company recognized a loss in the warrant derivative of approximately $308 in its consolidated statement of net income/loss.

In September 2020, Lift filed for bankruptcy protection under Section 49 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Canada. In connection with the bankruptcy filing, the Company wrote down its investment in Lift such that the carrying value of its
common share and warrant ownership was $nil as of December 31, 2020. No warrants were exercised as of December 31, 2020.