New Frontier Moving Ahead With Civilized Acquisition, Lays Off Staff
SAINT JOHN – Saint John and Los Angeles-based cannabis media company Civilized has shut down its operations and laid off all its staff as it gets ready to be acquired by Washington-based cannabis analytics firm New Frontier Data.
New Frontier announced back in October its intentions to acquire Civilized but announced on Tuesday that it has “completed its diligence” and will be moving ahead with the deal. It also announced that it will be stopping Civilized’s operations and laying off all its staff while it addresses ‘areas of improvement.’ “
The number of employees impacted was not stated.
“The Civilized brand and the content generated to engage cannabis consumers, influencers and multinational brands are world-class and everything we expected; that said, during our diligence we identified areas for improvement,” said New Frontier Data founder and CEO Giadha Aguirre de Carcer, in a news release.
“Civilized and New Frontier Data have agreed that, in order to allow an effective and successful restructuring, we need to halt day-to-day operations at Civilized, with a temporary lay-off of all staff. This will allow clarity to move forward, introduce additional technology, and ultimately strengthen Civilized’s ability to deliver and engage on a global scale.”
RELATED: U.S. Company To Acquire Saint John Cannabis Lifestyle Media Business Civilized
Civilized aims to engage cannabis consumers, influencers and multinational brands with niche and mainstream content, access to exclusive events, and an informed cannabis lifestyle experience. As of Tuesday evening, its website and social media pages were still online.
The company had employees located in Los Angeles and Saint John. New Frontier Data plans to restart Civilized’s operations in January as part of a new combined entity. They did not indicate specifically what if any positions will remain, and where any future positions would be located. The future of its popular events it hosted in the city, Moonlight Bazaar and the World Cannabis Congress is also unknown.
New Frontier Data will assume Civilized debts and liabilities, the release states.
“Civilized regularly connects with millions of cannabis consumers in intelligent, thoughtful and effective ways, opening a world of possibilities for brands looking to harness these connections as they enter the lucrative cannabis markets emerging around the world,” said Aguirre de Carcer.
“With the additions of Civilized and Zefyr earlier this year, New Frontier Data expands beyond the world’s most rigorous cannabis market research and business intelligence to offer brands the first platform for discovering consumers, deciding about business and marketing investments, and deploying campaigns to move products, influence opinions and capture a leadership position in cannabis.”
Huddle reached out to New Frontier and Civilized’s publisher Derek Riedle for an interview but did not hear back by the time of publication.