AZ Cannabis Company Gifts Its Employees 3 Million Equity Options

Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. (Harvest), a vertically integrated cannabis company with one of the largest and deepest footprints in the U.S., today announced that key members of senior leadership, Co-Executive Chairman Jason Vedadi, CEO Steve White, and Operational Leader Joe Sai, have voluntarily surrendered a total of 2.4 million equity options to Harvest for redistribution to eligible employees throughout the company. The three senior leaders will not receive any consideration from Harvest.

“We are focused on returning to profitability and recognize that goal will require dedication to operational excellence and the support of leaders at Harvest,” said Harvest CEO Steve White. “Our employees are some of the hardest working in the industry and this award is meant to recognize both the accomplishments of the past year and the expected commitment to achieving profitability ahead.”

Key personnel were awarded approximately 3.0 million equity options including approximately 600,000 in newly issued options and the 2.4 million surrendered options as a reward for their work to date and incentive for continued dedication to the company.

As part of the redistribution of equity options, Harvest expects to recognize a non-cash charge of approximately $10 million during the first quarter of 2020. The non-cash charge is an accounting treatment that relates to the surrender of equity options and associated acceleration of unrecognized expense tied to the original option grants.