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Once the world’s biggest legal crop, SpeakEasy now delisted

Published on December 16, 2022 by David Wylie

Photo: David Wylie/the oz.

SpeakEasy, an outdoor cannabis grower in Rock Creek, BC, has been delisted from the stock market and is in creditor protection.

Founded by a long-time farming family in the Okanagan, they once boasted what they purported to be the world’s biggest legal outdoor crop.

This month, the company was delisted from the Canadian Securities Exchange, or CSE. Going by the ticker ‘EASY,’ SpeakEasy was first suspended from trading in March 2022. More than 130 million shares had been listed, according to the CSE.

SpeakEasy went into creditor protection in late July.

Led by Marc Geen, SpeakEasy made international headlines as the largest legal outdoor cannabis crop in the world in 2020. They harvested 60 acres of plants back at the operation near the south end of Highway 33, close to the US border. The harvest yielded more than 72,000 kilograms.

  RELATED: Inside SpeakEasy: World’s biggest outdoor legal harvest

Geen, a fifth-generation farmer, has a rich history in BC. His grandparents were one of the original pioneer families in the Okanagan for tree fruits. They were key players in the start-up of Sun-Rype, a co-op founded by growers in the Okanagan known for their juice and fruit snacks.

On July  27,  2022, SpeakEasy announced that, “after careful consideration of all available  alternatives,” the company board determined it best to seek creditor protection. It was granted by Supreme Court of BC.

“Recently, SpeakEasy has encountered significant pressure on their cash flows which led to the company’s inability to meet obligations to their secured lenders and other parties,” says SpeakEasy.

SpeakEasy owns a total of 290 acres of land in Rock Creek, which is where its 63,200 square foot indoor cannabis complex is located.