Kaya Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:KAYS), an integrated retailer and producer of legal medical and recreational cannabis products, today announced that it is finalizing preparations to leverage its existing chain of Kaya Shack™  cannabis stores through the sale of franchises and licensing. 

The Company expects to secure agreement with a leading Canadian franchise and real estate brokerage firm, as well as completion of its Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD) over the next 30-45 days, with United States franchising and licensing to follow as regulations and laws permit. Targeted markets include Canada where marijuana is now federally legal, as well as select markets in the United States, such as Illinois, which just passed legislation legalizing the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes.

Illinois just became the 11th state in the United States to legalize cannabis for recreational use, with dozens of licenses for new stores, processors and cultivators expected to begin being issued in mid-2020. While the market will take time to ramp up, the numbers are attractive: the Illinois Economic Policy Institute estimates a state market exceeding $1.6 billion, with over $500 million in new tax revenues and over 23,000 new jobs created in Illinois.

“Keep in mind that we are based in Oregon, the U.S. state recognized for its top-quality cannabis,” stated Kaya CEO Craig Frank. “The abundance of high-quality, low cost cannabis grown in Oregon has our state officials already looking for ways to permit export. With U.S. legalization on the horizon, we believe we are uniquely positioned to service other states, without having to follow other multi-state players and recreate our entire infrastructure in each state of operation. The potential exists for us to grow and sell at least 100,000 pounds of cannabis annually, using our current land holdings.”

“KAYS involvement in the emerging U.S. Cannabis market over the past 5 years as a pioneering publicly traded company have placed it in a unique position to structure cannabis franchising and licensing models for both the United States and Canada,” stated W. David Jones, Senior Advisor to KAYS for Business Development, Licensing and Financial Operations. “We expect to be ready to franchise in the United States as laws permit, and with new states, like Illinois, joining the legalization push, we expect there to be significant demand for proven cannabis retail models.”

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Kaya Holdings Conference Call Update. The Kaya Holdings Annual Shareholder Call, originally slated for late December 2018/early January 2019 was postponed due to pending developments with our International division and opportunities in Canada. We apologize for the delay. Interested parties are advised to go to www.kayashack.com and register for KAYS updates; a confirmation email and participation code will be sent out to all shareholders and interested parties as soon as the date is set.

KAYS (OTCQB: KAYS), through subsidiaries, produces, distributes or sells legal premium medical and recreational cannabis products, including flower, concentrates and oils, and cannabis-infused foods. In 2014, KAYS, became the first publicly traded company to own and operate a Medical Marijuana Dispensary. KAYS has expanded and presently operates four Kaya Shack™ OLCC licensed marijuana retail stores to service the legal medical and recreational marijuana market in Oregon (www.kayashack.com), has developed its own proprietary Kaya Farms™ strains of cannabis, which it grows and produces (together with edibles and other cannabis derivatives) at its Eugene, Oregon Sunstone Farms legal recreational and medical marijuana production and processing manufacturing facility, which it acquired in October 2018 and is operating pursuant to a management agreement pending OLCC approval to reissue the license to MJAI Oregon 1, LLC (KAYS’ main Oregon Operating Subsidiary).

The Company also owns a 26-acre parcel in Lebanon, Linn County, Oregon, which it purchased in August 2017 on which it intends to construct a cultivation and production facility. We filed for zoning and land use approval in early 2018, and after numerous regulatory challenges and delays, we finally received zoning and land use approval in January,2019 to build an 85,000-square foot Kaya Farms™ greenhouse grow and production facility. Kaya Farms has begun designing the facility for maximum production of approximately 100,000 pounds annually, should recent efforts by Oregon state officials to enable export, or Federal decriminalization permit Oregon cannabis farms to maximize capacity.

The Company maintains a genetics library of over 30 strains of cannabis it has developed and has also formulated various edibles, cannabis derivatives and marijuana cigarettes under the “Kaya” brand name.

Oregon has “paused” the acceptance of new license applications, but the law allows the existing licenses to be sold and/or moved from one physical location to another. KAYS is presently evaluating how best to utilize these assets to form a network that will not only maximize our penetration of the Oregon Cannabis market but serve as the backbone to grow our U.S. Operations across state lines through the rollout of proprietary brands. KAYS has initiated paperwork with the OLCC to temporarily close one of the three outlets in Salem (store #3 in North Salem) and hopes to move that license to its Eugene, Oregon Sunstone Farms legal recreational and medical marijuana production and processing facility where it would be operated as a Kaya Farms Store™ which would allow it to also serve as a delivery hub to service the City of Eugene.

Additionally, the Company is exploring opportunities to expand its operations beyond Oregon by replicating its Kaya Shack™ brand retail outlets through franchising in other states where recreational cannabis use is legal or expected to become legal in the near term, as well as in Canada, where it is legal nationwide.

KAYS has retained the Toronto, Canada based law firm of Garfinkle Biderman, LLP to prepare the Franchise Disclosure Documents (“FDD”) and related items for the sale of Kaya Shack™ Cannabis Store franchises in Canada, which is the only G7 country that has legalized both medical and recreational cannabis production, sale and use on a national level. KAYS is near completion of negotiations with a leading franchise and real estate brokerage firm to lead the initial effort, which will most likely begin in the Province of British Columbia, and advance to other Provinces as license allocations are developed by the Canadian authorities. We expect the franchise sale and placement effort throughout Canada to progress over the next 3-18 months. KAYS plans to ultimately expand its franchise operations to the U.S., as regulations and laws permit.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE: KAYS is planning execution of its stated business objectives in accordance with current understanding of State and Local Laws and Federal Enforcement Policies and Priorities as it relates to Marijuana (as outlined in the Justice Department's U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Memo dated January 4, 2018, and subsequent commentary from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Billy Williams), and plans to proceed cautiously with respect to legal and compliance issues. Potential investors and shareholders are cautioned that KAYS and MJAI will obtain advice of counsel prior to actualizing any portion of their business plan (including but not limited to license applications for the cultivation, distribution or sale of marijuana products, engaging in said activities or acquiring existing Cannabis production/sales operations). Advice of counsel with regard to specific activities of KAYS, Federal, State or Local legal action or changes in Federal Government Policy and/or State and Local Laws may adversely affect business operations and shareholder value.