A bitter boardroom battle has erupted at MediPharm Labs, one of Canada’s leading pharmaceutical cannabis companies, as investor Apollo Capital moves to unseat the entire board amid allegations of financial misconduct, mismanagement, and self-enrichment.
With damning and heated allegations levelled on both sides in various investor updates over the last few weeks, the future of the company’s leadership now rests on an upcoming vote at the company’s Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders on June 16, 2025.
The ongoing and very public dispute centres on whether current CEO David Pidduck and his leadership team are acting in shareholders’ best interests, or as Apollo claims, plotting a ‘fire sale’ of the company’s assets to cash out their own holdings.
On May 08, Apollo Technology Capital Corporation, a Toronto-based investment firm and one of MediPharm’s largest shareholders with a 3% stake, issued a sharply worded letter to fellow shareholders alongside the filing of a ‘dissident proxy circular’.
This is a formal document issued by a shareholder or group of shareholders (the ‘dissidents’) who are seeking to challenge the existing management or board of a public company during a shareholder vote.
In the letter, Apollo accuses MediPharm’s board of ‘catastrophically’ mismanaging the company and presiding over a prolonged period of value destruction, operational failure, and excessive executive compensation.
“Despite this abysmal performance, the management team has continued to be rewarded excessively,” Apollo writes. It accuses the Board of making ‘ill-advised dilutive investments’ leading to over $54 million in operating losses over the past three years.
“We can no longer stand idly by and watch this do-nothing board and management team drive this once-great company further into the abyss,” the letter states.
As such, Apollo put forward plans to replace all six of the incumbent directors with six of its own nominees, all of which were promptly slated in a retort from MediPharm which claimed they do ‘not have the mix of qualifications necessary to run a complex international business like MediPharm.’
Weeks later, following the launch of a dedicated website for the campaign to oust the current leadership, Apollo issued a series of serious allegations against the company.
In the salvo, published on May 29, Apollo accused MediPharm’s board of ‘deliberate, systematic financial misfeasance and deceptive accounting practices,’ alleging that the company engaged in ‘schemes to intentionally overstate Company revenues.’
Chris Taves, Chair of the Board and Audit Committee and a CPA, is named directly in the claims. Apollo states that ‘it is curious’ Taves holds both roles and calls for ‘immediate, robust investigation by regulatory authorities including the OSC, TSX, and SEC.’
“These allegations paint a profoundly troubling picture of calculated corporate conduct to overstate revenues and in turn mislead shareholders,” Apollo said, calling on each director to ‘publicly address these allegations openly and transparently.’
In a subsequent letter to shareholders this week, Apollo alleged that Pidduck is ‘looking to sell the Company to cash out his shares,’ citing conversations with a current MediPharm board member and other ‘credible sources.’
“In 2025, a current Board member told Apollo Capital directly that CEO Pidduck was looking to sell the company to trigger his change in control awards,” Apollo claimed in a statement.
Apollo says it made a $6.9 million investment offer to bolster MediPharm’s growth, including a $3.4 million private placement and $3.5 million to acquire shares from Pidduck and President Keith Strachan, but that the offer was rejected without engagement.
Apollo CEO Regan McGee said: “Our offer represented a way for MediPharm to capitalize the company without selling key assets… We would already be well on our way toward achieving our goal of a 10x increase in the stock price.”
MediPharm Labs has strongly denied the accusations, calling them ‘patently false’ and part of a ‘campaign of misinformation’ designed to ‘distract and mislead the company’s shareholders.’
“The Company complies fully with International Financial Reporting Standards and its continuous disclosure obligations pursuant to Canadian securities law,” MediPharm said, highlighting its clean audit from MNP LLP as of March 2025.
In a detailed response, the Board accused Apollo of attempting a hostile takeover with only a minimal ownership stake.
“Apollo’s campaign to seize control of MediPharm is nothing less than an attack against your company,” it wrote in a May 28 shareholder letter.
MediPharm claims that Apollo is concealing its true intent to ‘use MediPharm as a beachhead to roll-up or acquire multiple cannabis companies,’ referencing Apollo’s own April proposal to turn the company into a ‘platform for consolidating four profitable private cannabis companies in Canada and Australia.’
The company dismissed Apollo’s five-pillar recovery strategy, aimed at boosting international sales, reducing expenses, halting asset sales, replacing the CEO, and increasing transparency, as vague and derivative.
“The Dissident Plan is lacking in specifics. Much of it is a plan to make a plan,” MediPharm said, arguing Apollo was merely repackaging existing initiatives: “The international medical market now represents more than half our revenues, and it grew by 87% year-over-year in Q1 2025.”
On financial performance, the Board stated: “The Company’s Q1 2025 year-over-year results included a 10% increase in revenue, a 53% increase in gross margin, and the first quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA in over five years.”
The post MediPharm On the Brink: Shareholder Revolt Reaches Boiling Point as Board Fight for Survival at Canandian Cannabis Giant appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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With damning and heated allegations levelled on both sides in various investor updates over the last few weeks, the future of the company’s leadership now rests on an upcoming vote at the company’s Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders on June 16, 2025.
The ongoing and very public dispute centres on whether current CEO David Pidduck and his leadership team are acting in shareholders’ best interests, or as Apollo claims, plotting a ‘fire sale’ of the company’s assets to cash out their own holdings.
What’s the dispute about?
On May 08, Apollo Technology Capital Corporation, a Toronto-based investment firm and one of MediPharm’s largest shareholders with a 3% stake, issued a sharply worded letter to fellow shareholders alongside the filing of a ‘dissident proxy circular’.
This is a formal document issued by a shareholder or group of shareholders (the ‘dissidents’) who are seeking to challenge the existing management or board of a public company during a shareholder vote.
In the letter, Apollo accuses MediPharm’s board of ‘catastrophically’ mismanaging the company and presiding over a prolonged period of value destruction, operational failure, and excessive executive compensation.
“Despite this abysmal performance, the management team has continued to be rewarded excessively,” Apollo writes. It accuses the Board of making ‘ill-advised dilutive investments’ leading to over $54 million in operating losses over the past three years.
“We can no longer stand idly by and watch this do-nothing board and management team drive this once-great company further into the abyss,” the letter states.
As such, Apollo put forward plans to replace all six of the incumbent directors with six of its own nominees, all of which were promptly slated in a retort from MediPharm which claimed they do ‘not have the mix of qualifications necessary to run a complex international business like MediPharm.’
Weeks later, following the launch of a dedicated website for the campaign to oust the current leadership, Apollo issued a series of serious allegations against the company.
In the salvo, published on May 29, Apollo accused MediPharm’s board of ‘deliberate, systematic financial misfeasance and deceptive accounting practices,’ alleging that the company engaged in ‘schemes to intentionally overstate Company revenues.’
Chris Taves, Chair of the Board and Audit Committee and a CPA, is named directly in the claims. Apollo states that ‘it is curious’ Taves holds both roles and calls for ‘immediate, robust investigation by regulatory authorities including the OSC, TSX, and SEC.’
“These allegations paint a profoundly troubling picture of calculated corporate conduct to overstate revenues and in turn mislead shareholders,” Apollo said, calling on each director to ‘publicly address these allegations openly and transparently.’
In a subsequent letter to shareholders this week, Apollo alleged that Pidduck is ‘looking to sell the Company to cash out his shares,’ citing conversations with a current MediPharm board member and other ‘credible sources.’
“In 2025, a current Board member told Apollo Capital directly that CEO Pidduck was looking to sell the company to trigger his change in control awards,” Apollo claimed in a statement.
Apollo says it made a $6.9 million investment offer to bolster MediPharm’s growth, including a $3.4 million private placement and $3.5 million to acquire shares from Pidduck and President Keith Strachan, but that the offer was rejected without engagement.
Apollo CEO Regan McGee said: “Our offer represented a way for MediPharm to capitalize the company without selling key assets… We would already be well on our way toward achieving our goal of a 10x increase in the stock price.”
What does MediPharm say?
MediPharm Labs has strongly denied the accusations, calling them ‘patently false’ and part of a ‘campaign of misinformation’ designed to ‘distract and mislead the company’s shareholders.’
“The Company complies fully with International Financial Reporting Standards and its continuous disclosure obligations pursuant to Canadian securities law,” MediPharm said, highlighting its clean audit from MNP LLP as of March 2025.
In a detailed response, the Board accused Apollo of attempting a hostile takeover with only a minimal ownership stake.
“Apollo’s campaign to seize control of MediPharm is nothing less than an attack against your company,” it wrote in a May 28 shareholder letter.
MediPharm claims that Apollo is concealing its true intent to ‘use MediPharm as a beachhead to roll-up or acquire multiple cannabis companies,’ referencing Apollo’s own April proposal to turn the company into a ‘platform for consolidating four profitable private cannabis companies in Canada and Australia.’
The company dismissed Apollo’s five-pillar recovery strategy, aimed at boosting international sales, reducing expenses, halting asset sales, replacing the CEO, and increasing transparency, as vague and derivative.
“The Dissident Plan is lacking in specifics. Much of it is a plan to make a plan,” MediPharm said, arguing Apollo was merely repackaging existing initiatives: “The international medical market now represents more than half our revenues, and it grew by 87% year-over-year in Q1 2025.”
On financial performance, the Board stated: “The Company’s Q1 2025 year-over-year results included a 10% increase in revenue, a 53% increase in gross margin, and the first quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA in over five years.”
The post MediPharm On the Brink: Shareholder Revolt Reaches Boiling Point as Board Fight for Survival at Canandian Cannabis Giant appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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