FastForward Innovations Ltd (LON:FFWD) is proposing to change its name to Seed Innovations Limited with the ticker code SEED to reflect the concentration of its focus onto the medical cannabis, health and wellness space.
An extraordinary general meeting will be held on Friday 9 July to consider and, if thought fit, to pass certain resolutions, including to gain the authority to issue new shares representing 100% of the company's issued ordinary shares as at today's date, free from pre-emption rights.
Ian Burns, FastForward's non-executive chairman, said, "As we have reported over recent months, we have been developing our portfolio ensuring a mix of liquid, pre-liquidity and longer-term investments as well as maintaining a good cash position to make further investments, which taken together greatly reduces the risk of our portfolio whilst giving much clearer visibility on potential returns.
"Investor interest in the cannabinoid sector is escalating with several new companies nearing listing or recently listed on a UK exchange and we have been active in investing in these companies. We believe this is a sector which will only gain increased investor momentum as companies' profiles grow and investment in the sector becomes more mainstream.
"Ongoing clinical research into cannabis/cannabinoids is beginning to show efficacy in helping certain conditions and having been involved in the sector for several years, having made eight investments operating within the space and indeed seeing four successful exits, we are ideally positioned to benefit from this growth and cement our position as a leading investor in the sector.
"At present we remain the only AIM quoted company investing in the sector.
"Whilst we remain focussed on having a balanced portfolio of disruptive technologies, the proposed rebrand to Seed Innovations Limited is reflective of our significant focus on investing within the medical cannabis, health and wellness space."
With the cannabis sector forecasted to reach a value of £16.5bn in the next decade and the health and wellness space predicted to near $4.24bn by 2026, Burns said the board believes the company's shift in positioning will "result in momentous growth in the years to come".
He added that recently appointed vice president of investment analysis Alfredo Pascual is focused on sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities in the burgeoning European medical cannabis industry as well as supporting the growth of portfolio companies in the sector.
"Having worked in the cannabis space since the end of 2016, Alfredo is a well-known name in the sector across global markets. We are excited about the opportunities he is already presenting us and we look forward to the continued growth of the company with Alfredo on board."
Burns added that he firmly believes Seed Innovations will continue to have "a very bright future with our existing portfolio and pipeline of progressive companies within the health, wellness, and medical cannabis space to both aggressively expand as well as balance out the liquidity of our portfolio and attract new long-term institutional and retail shareholders".
Along with the proposed name change, the Company is proposing to update its Memorandum and Articles of Incorporation (M&A's) to bring them up to date with the Guernsey Companies Act and ensure that it has the flexibility to issue further ordinary shares,.
Ian Burns continued, "We are positioning the company, which was originally incorporated in 2006, for the next exciting phase in its development, by bringing its constituent documents up to date to reflect changes in company law and into line with current market expectations, readying it for future investment, including from institutional investors should NAV and market cap develop as hoped."