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Agritek Holdings Inc. Announces Letter to Shareholders and Appointment of Interim Chief Executive Officer B. Michael Freidman
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LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/09/15 -- Agritek Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: AGTK) (http://www.Agritekholdings.com), a fully reporting company on the OTCQB and leader in Compassionate Care Technology and agricultural solutions for the recreational cannabis industry, today announced an open letter to its shareholders.
Dear Shareholders:
I thought it appropriate to communicate with you now that I have been appointed as the interim Chief Executive Officer of Agritek Holdings, Inc. (the "Company") as of Friday last week. At this time, I feel that each of our shareholders should be provided with more details relating to the Form 8-K filed this morning and management's plans for moving the company forward. My goal is to communicate openly with you within the bounds set by the applicable regulatory bodies.
The 8-K filed Friday November 6th 2015, specifically was related to:
(1.) Departures of principal officers, elections of directors, and appointments of principal officers.
This morning's 8K announced effective November 4, 2015, the resignation of Justin Braune, the Company's CEO of the last 8 months and effective October 26, 2015, the resignation of Heather Bush, the Company's Chief Financial Officer (the "CFO"). Mr. Braune's appointed Ms. Bush as CFO on September 16, 2015.
As many of our long term shareholders are aware, I previously served as your Chief Executive Officer of this Company and on its' Board of Directors since 2009. I still remain the largest single shareholder of this company and have been for almost six years. I have personally led Agritek then known as Mediswipe Inc. and have been a part of this company at it's highest of highs during the initial cannabis sector boom, and for the last eight months stood on the sideline and watched new management bring it to the lowest point of our trading history with several matters that need to be resolved immediately.
Admittedly, it is not easy to be a pioneer within a new sector, and we have in the past several years shared good times and bad. I truly felt and agreed to step down as CEO in March 2015 and by bringing in new leadership at the time, thought it to be the right choice to initiate positive change for Agritek. I trusted Mr. Braune's resume and knowledge of the industry would bring new life to the Company and I followed the lead of new management's strategic plans to launch a vaporizer division with a proprietary device. Unfortunately this product still has not been launched into the marketplace.
It was my feeling, as well as that of many other shareholders, that Agritek and its subsidiary had significant opportunities and assets to perform on its business plan and generate significant revenues. For numerous reasons, this was not happening. I believe that previous management over the last several months seemed to focus on large opportunities with longer sales cycles that in fact, have turned not into revenue as promised. This strategy, combined with our note holders converting stock did not fare well for our stock price.
As you will soon see, we are already on our way to reorganizing and refocusing the company. In an effort to fast-track this turnaround, I am announcing that the Company is withdrawing its application from FINRA at this time from the Reverse Split. FINRA advised the Company that the Reverse Split was going to be subject to a secondary review process. The amount of time that this has taken with the lack of follow up, and the unknown timing of the secondary review process has created an incredible amount of stress and uncertainty within our marketplace. I feel it is in the best interest of our shareholders to not reverse and restructure the company at this time, work with our note holders to remove the toxic debt from our balance sheet and immediately focus on revenue streams and market opportunities to bring greater value to the Company and its shareholders.
In the last two days, I have retained a well established and a highly respected SEC lawyer as corporate counsel to guide our Company, a financial accounting firm to help remain reporting and complete our financial statements to remain fully reporting, and am in the process of retaining independent auditing firm to ensure we remain compliant and file our quarterly report. Your company has been fully reporting since its inception and completely transparent to its investors and shareholders. I believe our assets, brands, and IP have greater value than our present market cap.
Further, I have developed two immediate opportunities to monetize our land assets both in Nevada and Colorado. It was recently discovered that the notarized quitclaim deed we had on our 80 acres in Colorado was not recorded by our original joint venture partner. The Company is presently working to resolve this matter, and is in first position as a lien holder to own the property for our development plans with our cultivation partner for planting Hemp in Pueblo this spring. Documentation related to the Colorado land purchase is filed within the recent 8-K. We presently have two offers to monetize our land asset in Nevada which the Company is evaluating.
The market for our stock has deteriorated quite a bit over the last several months due to the toxic debt on the books. However, there are immediate opportunities that our advisor Dr. Stephen Holt and I are reviewing to create potential immediate revenue opportunities. These immediate opportunities include land leases for cultivation and production by licensed entities in Colorado and Nevada, the release of a full line of CBD and Hemp extract products including tinctures, capsules, skin care and beverages with one of the most well known and respected supply sources and brand names partnering with Agritek. We have also just received our approval from the United States Patent office for our Mello Meal trademark to be used as an infused meal that will include beverages and edibles with plans to be sold in dispensaries nationally in legal jurisdictions.
Although it is not under the circumstances that I would have wished or could control, it is with renewed enthusiasm that I once again will undertake the leadership of Agritek Holdings. In these first weeks, I compare the company to other start-up organizations I worked with during my career that became extremely successful. I am encouraged by the familiar excitement of new opportunity within this sector that has evolved over the last two years with multiple jurisdictions now seeking experience and guidance and the possibilities that it engenders. Drawing from my experience in this sector and having access to established networks in recreational states, I understand that taking a laboratory prototype or idea and getting it into "go to market" shape requires shifting the development mindset and, at times, leveraging different skills and people. Those people that I have identified to join our board and team share my mindset and will bring a positive force to rebuild this Company. Our team members and management will insure that we are working together effectively.
I expect this will be the first of many interactions directly and indirectly with you as we release news and updates on our business operations and strategies through year end and in 2016. It is my hope that this update has given you some insights into our current status and objectives. I can assure you that we are focused on remaining a meaningful Company within the cannabis sector. I believe that by growing our business, utilizing our land assets, and adding to our existing asset base new products ready for market, we may get the attention of investors that may help AGTK trade at higher levels with greater volume and increase our market cap.
I will work hard to eliminate virtually all potentially dilutive financing instruments that are currently outstanding. I am currently working on all fronts and doing everything that I can to make your investment in Agritek Holdings a successful one. Building shareholder value remains of utmost importance to the executive team and Board of Directors. We look forward to pursuing various avenues of growth in the time ahead.
Link: http://ir.agritekholdings.com/press-releases/detail/1179 |
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