Canadian Cannabis Grower Wayland Group Hires Its First GC

Canadian flag with marijuana leaf. (Photo: Shutterstock)

The global and rapidly growing Canadian cannabis company Wayland Group has hired a former corporate lawyer and in-house player in the tech industry as its chief attorney.

Wayland Group announced Matthew McLeod’s appointment to the newly created role of general counsel on Monday, his first day on the job. He enters the in-house world of the marijuana industry after serving for almost two years as legal counsel and vice president of legal and compliance for Toronto-based software company Sigma Systems.

Earlier in his career, McLeod worked as a corporate lawyer and associate at the New York City office of Canadian law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt from 2013 to 2015, and an associate at the Law Offices of Robert C. Edwards and Peter T. Hollinger, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to his stint at Sigma, he was legal counsel for digital wallet app maker UGO Mobile Solutions LP.

Wayland Group CEO Ben Ward said in a prepared statement that McLeod, who was not immediately available for an interview, would bolster the company’s transaction and compliance capabilities. The company also stated that McLeod’s “merger and acquisition experience will be invaluable … and will allow Wayland Group to continue its global expansion.”

The cannabis company, founded five years ago, is headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, Canada; and now has operations in Colombia, Germany, Italy, Malta and Switzerland.

Wayland entered the South American marijuana market earlier this month with a $22 million deal to acquire Colma Pharmaceutical SAS, which allows the company to grow cannabis on a nine-acre lease in Ibagué, Colombia, according to the company.

“Our move to outdoor cultivation in Colombia is the first step in creating a reliable and consistent mass supply of cannabinoid isolates for the global market,” the company stated at the time. “We continue to move aggressively in the international market, creating a global presence, built on a rational business platform of geographic cost centers.”

A few days after the Colombia announcement, Wayland stated that it had arrived in Italy after completing a joint venture agreement with CBD Italian Factory S.S., which makes cannabis products. The company stated that the European cannabis market is expected to be worth more than $132 billion by 2028.