Halo Collective Receives All Regulatory Approvals for its Third Budega™ Dispensary in Hollywood, Halo's first Superstore

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08/10/2022 - 04:15 PM

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TORONTO, Aug. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Halo Collective Inc. ("Halo" or the "Company") (NEO: HALO) (OTCQX: HCANF) (Germany: A9KN) today announced that its Budega Hollywood Dispensary, the Company's first superstore, passed its Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation (the "DCR") inspection and is expected to open in 2022. Given the larger square footage, the Company anticipates, after a ramp-up period, Budega Hollywood to be the Company's top grossing retail store with up to $15 million in annual sales per year.

CEO and Director Katie Field commented, "This is a significant milestone towards our third planned Budega opening in the Los Angeles market. It will be the first superstore format for Budega as well. As we complete the build-out of this flagship location, we plan to simultaneously prepare the groundwork for opening, including hiring, training, and back-end infrastructure. We are extremely pleased with the location and design for our flagship dispensary and look forward to welcoming Hollywood locals and tourists alike."

Budega Hollywood Inspection Approval

On Thursday, August 4, 2022, Budega Hollywood successfully passed the DCR's final site inspection and has been approved to proceed with the agency's final administrative review. Budega Hollywood has already obtained its state license. Once opened, the store will mark the Company's third Los Angeles dispensary.

The flagship Hollywood location is located at Franklin and Argyle, next to the 101 freeway, near the iconic Hollywood sign, and across Franklin from the famed Hollywood Tower. With ample parking, the site is strategically located, boasting high foot and car traffic accessible by locals and tourists alike. Additionally, the location features an iconic floral themed mural by Oakland artist Jet Martinez known for creating vibrant works of art that put a contemporary spin on folk art motifs.

Budega Hollywood will offer a leading, curated product assortment, including many top-tier California brands such as STIIIZY, Jungle Boys, Jeeter, 710 Labs, Alien Labs, Connected, Cookies, and Kiva, as well as highlight Budega's line of branded products, which remain the top-selling SKU's at the existing Budega locations. In addition, the store will also stock Halo's Hush™ branded cartridges, gummies, and pre-rolls. The store plans to operate Monday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Visit https://budega.com/ for more information or to place an order online.

California is the highest-grossing state for cannabis retail sales in the United States, with legal retail sales of $5.2 billion in 2021, up 17% from 2020. California is projected to gross $7 billion in cannabis retail sales by 2025.¹

About Halo Collective

Halo is focused on the United States West Coast, where it has vertically integrated operations covering the entire value chain from seed to sale. Halo cultivates, extracts, manufactures, and distributes quality cannabis flower, pre-rolls, vape carts, edibles, and concentrates. Halo sells these products under a portfolio of brands, including Hush™, Winberry Farms™, Williams Wonder Farms, its retail brand Budega™, and license agreements with Papa's Herb®, DNA Genetics, and FlowerShop*. In addition, Halo has opened two dispensaries in Los Angeles under the Budega™ brand in North Hollywood and Hollywood, with plans to open one more in Hollywood in the third quarter of 2022.

In the non-THC sector, Halo is expanding into health and wellness categories, including CBD and functional supplements such as nootropic nutraceuticals and non-psychotropic mushrooms. Halo, through a series of acquisitions, has product offerings in the form of beverages (H2C Beverages), dissolvable strips (Dissolve Medical), capsules (Hushrooms™), and topical supplements (Hatshe) with proposed national distribution via a strategic agreement with SWAY Energy Corporation.

Halo has successfully acquired and integrated a variety of companies which were subsequently reorganized to create Akanda Corp. (NASDAQ:AKAN), an international medical cannabis and wellness company, of which Halo currently owns 12,674,957 common shares worth approximately US$15.8 million as of August 9, 2022. Halo has also acquired a range of software development assets, including CannPOS, Cannalift, CannaFeels, and a discrete sublingual dosing technology, Accudab. Halo intends to reorganize these entities (including their intellectual property and patent applications) into a subsidiary called Halo Tek Inc. and to complete the distribution of the shares of Halo Tek Inc. to shareholders on record at a date to be determined.

For further information regarding Halo, see Halo's disclosure documents on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

_________________________¹ According to year-end data released Feb. 23 by the state's Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA).

Connect with Halo Collective: Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only Halo's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Halo's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". Forward-looking information may relate to anticipated events or results including, but not limited to the planned commencement of operation at Budega Hollywood and management's plans regarding its portfolio of cannabis businesses.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Halo is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Halo has made certain assumptions. Although Halo believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Among others, the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: inability of management to successfully integrate the operations of acquired businesses, changes in the consumer market for cannabis products, changes in the expected outcomes of the proposed changes to Halo's operations, delays in obtaining required licenses or approvals necessary for the build-out of the Company's cannabis operations, dispensaries or Canadian operations, the proposed spin-out with Halo Tek Inc., delays or unforeseen costs incurred in connection with construction, delays or unforeseen difficulties in connection with the cultivation and harvest of Halo's raw material, changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; and the other risks disclosed in the Company's annual information form dated March 31, 2022 and other disclosure documents available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Halo does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to Halo or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

Non-Solicitation

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.