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Benton Capital returns financing proceeds to placees

2014-11-20 15:32 ET - News Release

Mr. Stephen Stares reports

BENTON CAPITAL PROVIDES UPDATE ON ACQUISITION OF FOLIUM LIFE SCIENCE INC.

Benton Capital Corp. is providing an update on its previously announced intent to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in Folium Life Science Inc., a private company, with its head office located in Abbotsford, B.C. As stated in the company's April 24, 2014, news release, the closing of the transaction is subject to obtaining all applicable regulatory and shareholder approvals in addition to Folium receiving its ready-to-build letter from Health Canada to become a licensed producer under the new Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR).

Folium received notice from Health Canada on April 9, 2014, that its application is at the personnel security checks phase (stage 4). In addition, Health Canada indicated at that time that: "The time required to conduct these security checks varies with each application, and you can expect that it will take a few months. Health Canada and the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] will not be able to provide you with updates."

The company and Folium have made numerous attempts to obtain a status update from Health Canada as well as the federal Minister of Health, to no avail, and Benton cannot speculate as to when this approval will be received. Due to the fact that the ready-to-build letter was not received by Nov. 15, 2014, the company was required to return funds held in escrow related to a non-brokered private placement of subscription receipts plus pro rata net interest earned on the funds to the underlying subscribers. Under Benton and Folium's current share exchange agreement, Folium has until Dec. 31, 2014, to obtain its ready-to-build in order for Benton to complete the acquisition of Folium. Benton and Folium remain committed to completing the transaction and executing Folium's business strategy.

Stephen Stares, company president and chief executive officer, commented: "We're very disappointed and frustrated with these unexplained delays by Health Canada in processing applications. The MMPR program was developed by Health Canada to add legitimacy, quality control and accountability on the part of producers in the medical cannabis field, but at the same time have made this process seemingly unnavigable for applicants. The very process forces applicants to bear significant ongoing holding costs while they wait for an approval under no certain time frames and with no communication with respect to progress. To our knowledge, there have been no new licences granted under the MMPR program in quite some time, which is troublesome for many companies such as ours that are faced with ongoing expenses and no real answers in sight."

Benton will continue to update shareholders as the acquisition of Folium progresses.

About Folium Life Science

Folium Life Science is a private company incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), which carries on business exclusively in the medical marijuana sector. Folium's head office is located in Abbotsford, B.C. Folium has planned and negotiated for a production and distribution facility outside of Victoria, B.C. Folium's application to become a licensed commercial producer under Health Canada's Marihuana for Medical Purpose Regulations (MMPR) is currently under review by Health Canada.

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