Management Team
Bill Petron, CEO and Chairman of the Board
Mr. Petron has a diverse and successful background scaling global manufacturing, logistics and medical cannabis operations. Most recently, Mr. Petron co-founded Alternative Medical Enterprises LLC, and co-led the company through its December 2020 merger with Verano Holdings LLC. and its subsequent public offering on the CSE in February 2021. Mr. Petron founded MSI Integrated Solutions headquartered in Porto Alegre, Brazil (1999); and Magnus Logistics Solutions Inc. headquartered in Toronto, Ontario (2006).
Ian D. Atacan, CPA, CMA, MBA: Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Atacan is a finance leader with more than 25 years of public company experience in strategy, M&A, and financing. He has worked in Europe and Canada with renowned international companies such as Sprint, Alcatel, DHL Worldwide Express, and Procter & Gamble. Most recently, Mr. Atacan was the CFO of Blueberries Medical Corp. a licensed cannabis producer in Colombia. Previously he was the CFO of Natura Naturals Inc., a Canadian cannabis company, until its acquisition by Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY). Prior to that, Mr. Atacan served as the CFO of Global Atomic Corporation (TSX: GLO). Mr. Atacan is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA), MBA (London, UK) and Electrical & Electronics Engineer.
Andrés Felipe Botero: Chief Operating Officer PharmaCielo Colombia
Mr. Botero was head of Philip Morris Andean Cluster for 20 years, overseeing cultivation, manufacturing, quality assurance, supply chain and distribution, and served as manager of Philip Morris International’s operations for reduced risk product portfolio in Colombia.
Board of Directors
Bill Petron, Chairman of the Board
Mr. Petron has a diverse and successful background scaling global manufacturing, logistics and medical cannabis operations. Most recently, Mr. Petron co-founded Alternative Medical Enterprises LLC, and co-led the company through its December 2020 merger with Verano Holdings LLC. and it subsequent public offering on the CSE in February 2021. Mr. Petron founded MSI Integrated Solutions headquartered in Porto Alegre, Brazil (1999); and Magnus Logistics Solutions Inc. headquartered in Toronto, Ontario (2006).
Marc Lustig, Lead Director
Mr. Lustig founded CannaRoyalty Corp. (Origin House), which was sold to Cresco Labs in 2020, is currently executive chairman of IMC Cannabis, chairman of Trichome Financial Corp. and director of Cresco Labs. He served in the capital markets sector for 15 years, as director at GMP Securities, head of Capital Markets at Dundee Capital Markets and in the Life Sciences sector at Orion Securities. Previously, he worked in the pharmaceutical industry with Merck & Co.
Doug Bache, Director, Audit Committee Chair
Mr. Bache is a director and management consultant providing corporate finance and strategic advisory services to private and public companies. He has held senior management positions at Vale/Inco Limited and North American Palladium and investment and corporate banking roles with CIBC World Markets and Société Générale Canada.
Dr. Claudia Jiménez, Director
Dr. Jiménez is a lawyer with Jiménez & Asociados S.A.S., a private consultancy firm. She has served as Minister-Counselor for the President of Colombia, Ambassador in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Executive Director of the Mining Colombian Association (SMGE) and Professor at the University Externado de Colombia and is a member of the board of ISA InterColombia, Executive Director of the Dialogue Group of Mining in Colombia (GDIAM) and a former board member of Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) and TSX-listed Continental Gold. She completed a Doctorate of Law at the Université of Paris II (Panthéon-Assas), France and Law and Political Science degree at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín.
Matteo Pellegrini, Director
Mr. Pellegrini has over 25 years of international management and leadership experience with Philip Morris International in numerous European and Asian countries. He served from 2003 to 2015 as Philip Morris International’s president of Asia.
Bob DeGabrielle, Director
Mr. DeGabrielle was an early entrepreneur and executive in the U.S. cannabis industry; he founded and owns Los Sueños Farms LLC, the largest outdoor grow in North America. Mr. DeGabrielle is the owner of Colorado Cannabis Associates comprised of two retail dispensaries and an additional indoor cultivation facility.
He serves on the board of Colorado Leads and MIG (Marijuana Industry Group), the two leading cannabis industry associations in Colorado. Mr. DeGabrielle was also a founding member of the Cannabis Trade Federation, a national industry association in the United States.
Will Nicholas, Director
Mr. Nicholas is an experienced finance professional with an extensive career in banking and investment management in New York, Zurich and London. Following a career in banking with Bankers Trust Company, Swiss Bank Corporation and UBS Investment Bank, Mr. Nicholas co-founded Oceanwood Capital Management, a London based European-focused hedge fund manager. Mr. Nicholas served as COO and then CEO to the firm over a decade and retired from the role of CEO in 2017. In 2015 Mr. Nicholas began researching and investing in the burgeoning U.S. medical cannabis industry. Mr. Nicholas is a resident of Oxford, England and now actively follows developments in the European Medical cannabis market.
