Item 3. Legal Proceedings
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
Other than as disclosed below, we are not aware of: (a) any legal proceedings to which we are a party, or to which any of our properties is subject, which would be material to us or of any such proceedings being contemplated, (b) any penalties or sanctions imposed by a court relating to securities legislation, or other penalties or sanctions imposed by a court or regulatory body against us that would likely be considered important to a reasonable investor making an investment decision, and (c) any settlement agreements that we have entered into before a court relating to securities legislation or with a securities regulatory authority.
On May 23, 2023, an ostensible shareholder commenced a putative class action (Turpel v. Canopy Growth Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:23-cv-043022-PAE) against the Company and two of its officers in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired the Company’s securities between May 31, 2022 and May 10, 2023, alleging violations of U.S. federal securities laws. Two similar cases were subsequently filed, captioned as Kantner v. Canopy Growth Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:23-cv-06266-PAE and Allen v. Canopy Growth Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:23-cv-05891-PAE. On November 30, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York consolidated the Turpel, Kantner and Allen actions (captioned as “In re Canopy Growth Securities Litigation, No. 23-cv-04302”) and appointed Chen Li as lead plaintiff. On January 22, 2024, the lead plaintiff filed a first amended complaint against the Company and certain of its current and former officers, alleging claims on behalf of persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired the Company’s securities between November 5, 2021 and June 22, 2023. The first amended complaint alleges that the Company made false or misleading statements and omissions regarding BioSteel’s revenue, performance and operations, and the Company’s internal controls over accounting and financial reporting in violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. The lead plaintiff seeks an unspecified amount of damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and other relief. The Company filed a motion to dismiss the first amended complaint on March 7, 2024. The lead plaintiff filed an opposition to the Company’s motion to dismiss on March 28, 2024 and the Company filed a reply in support of its motion to dismiss on April 11, 2024. The motion to dismiss is pending.
On January 18, 2024, a follow-on derivative shareholder lawsuit, captioned Press v. Schmeling et al., was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by ostensible shareholder Denise Press on behalf of Canopy Growth Corporation against the Company’s directors and certain of its officers based on substantially the same allegations as those alleged in the In re Canopy Growth Securities Litigation described above. The complaint asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duties, gross mismanagement, waste of corporate assets, unjust enrichment, and insider trading, and seeks damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and equitable relief. On March 22, 2024, the parties entered into a stipulation to stay all proceedings in the action until a decision is rendered on the motion to dismiss in the related Turpel securities class action. On March 26, 2024, the parties filed the executed stipulation and proposed order staying the action with the court.
The Company denies the alleged misconduct and liability for all claims asserted, believes that the defendants have meritorious defenses to the lawsuits, and expects to vigorously defend the claims, although the Company cannot predict when or how they will be resolved or estimate what the potential loss or range of loss would be, if any.
61
On June 27, 2023, an ostensible shareholder commenced a putative class action (Dziedziejko v. Canopy Growth Corporation et al., Court File No. CV-23-00701769-00CP) in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the Company, two of its officers, and the Company’s auditor on behalf of a putative class of all persons or entities who acquired Canopy’s securities in the secondary market between June 1, 2021 to June 22, 2023 and held some or all of those securities until the close of trading on May 10, 2023 or June 22, 2023.
The plaintiff alleges that the Company’s disclosures contained misrepresentations within the meaning of the Securities Act (Ontario), that certain officers authorized, permitted, or acquiesced in the release of the impugned disclosures, that the Company and one of its officers acted in a manner that was oppressive or unfairly prejudicial to the proposed class members by failing to remedy alleged deficiencies in the Company’s internal controls, and that all of the defendants are liable for damages to the putative class. The action seeks an unspecified amount of damages, interest, legal fees, and the costs of administering a plan of distribution of the recovery. The Company denies the alleged misconduct and liability for all claims asserted, believes that the defendants have meritorious defenses to the lawsuit, and expects to vigorously defend the claims, although the Company cannot predict when or how it will be resolved or estimate what the potential loss or range of loss would be, if any. The Company was also named in two other putative class proceedings that were commenced between May 2023 and July 2023 in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice regarding allegations that the Company’s disclosures contained misrepresentations. However, on November 10, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decided a carriage motion staying those actions (Leonard v. Canopy Growth Corporation et al., Court File No. CV-23-00702281-00CP and Twidale v. Canopy Growth Corporation et al., Court File No. CV-23-00700135-00CP), and allowing Dziedziejko v. Canopy Growth Corporation et al., Court File No. CV-23-00701769-00CP to proceed to a class certification hearing of the plaintiff’s motions for leave to proceed under the Securities Act and class certification. Those motions are scheduled to be heard in September 2025.
On June 15, 2023, an ostensible shareholder commenced a putative class action (Asmaro v. Canopy Growth Corporation et al., Court File No. VLC-S-S-234351) against the Company and two of its officers in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on behalf of a putative class of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired securities of the Company between August 6, 2021 and May 10, 2023. The lawsuit alleges that the Company’s disclosures contained misrepresentations within the meaning of the Securities Act (British Columbia), that certain officers authorized, permitted, or acquiesced in the release of the impugned disclosures, and that all of the defendants are liable for damages to the putative class. The plaintiff seeks an unspecified amount of damages. The Company denies the alleged misconduct and liability for all claims asserted, believes that the defendants have meritorious defenses to the lawsuit, and expects to vigorously defend the claims, although the Company cannot predict when or how it will be resolved or estimate what the potential loss or range of loss would be, if any.
In May 2023, in connection with the Company’s internal review of the financial reporting matters related to BioSteel, as previously disclosed in the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K and material change report filed on May 10, 2023 (the “BioSteel Review”), the Company voluntarily self-reported to the SEC that the timing and amount of revenue recognition in the BioSteel segment were under review. As a result of self-reporting the BioSteel Review, the Company is the subject of an ongoing investigation in connection with the BioSteel Review. Although the Company is fully cooperating with the investigation and continues to voluntarily respond to requests in connection with this matter, it cannot predict when such matters will be completed or the outcome and potential impact. Any remedial measures, sanctions, fines or penalties, including, but not limited to, financial penalties and awards, injunctive relief and compliance conditions, imposed on the Company in connection with this matter could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Growth Strategy—As a result of self-reporting the BioSteel Review, the Company is the subject of an investigation in connection with the BioSteel Review, and it cannot predict the timing of developments, and any adverse outcome of these continuing matters could have a material adverse effect on the Company” under Item 1A of this Annual Report.
On December 29, 2023, a Request for Arbitration was made identifying the Company, one of its subsidiaries, and another entity as respondents. The Claimant seeks damages in the amount of USD $32,666,667 against the respondents based on alleged breaches of a Share Purchase Agreement (“SPA”), including breaches of the duty of good faith and honest performance in relation to certain milestone payments in the SPA. The Company denies the allegations, believes that the respondents have meritorious defenses, and expects to vigorously defend the claims, although the Company cannot predict when or how the arbitration will be resolved.
From time to time, we may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business. We are not currently a party to any other legal proceedings other than described above, the outcome of which, if determined adversely to us, would individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. Please refer to “Risk Factors” under Item 1A of this Annual Report for further discussion.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
62
PART II
Ite m 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
The Canopy Shares are traded on Nasdaq under the symbol “CGC” and the TSX under the symbol “WEED.”
Holders
As of May 28, 2024, there were approximately 521 holders of record of Canopy Shares. This number of holders of record does not represent the actual number of beneficial owners of Canopy Shares because shares are frequently held in “street name” by securities dealers and others for the benefit of individual owners who have the right to vote their shares.
Dividends
As of the date of this Form 10-K, we have not declared any dividends or made any distributions on the Canopy Shares. Furthermore, we have no current intention to declare dividends on the Canopy Shares in the foreseeable future. Any decision to pay dividends on the Canopy Shares in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, current and anticipated cash requirements and surplus, financial condition, any contractual restrictions and financing agreement covenants, our ability to meet solvency tests imposed by corporate law and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
Not applicable.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Persons
We did not purchase any of the Canopy Shares during the three months ended March 31, 2024.
Item 6 . Reserved.
Not applicable.
63