22nd Century to Eliminate Senior Debt

The step is part of an effort to put the company back on a path to growth, says CEO Firestone.

22nd Century Group has entered into an agreement with its senior secured lender to eliminate all of its senior secured debt through potential debt for equity exchanges. Additionally, the company has entered into separate definitive agreements for the purchase of common stock and warrants.

The company also announced the appointment of Daniel Otto as chief financial officer (CFO) and Jonathan Staffeldt as general counsel. Both are currently employed at 22nd Century Group, Otto as corporate controller and Staffeldt as vice president and deputy general counsel. R. Hugh Kinsman, the company’s current CFO, will leave the company on June 1, 2024.

“We are putting 22nd Century back on a path to growth, and eliminating our debt is another key step in cutting our external operating cash needs,” said 22nd Century chairman and CEO Larry Firestone in a statement.

“Combined with a new contract manufacturing customer announced last week that is expected to increase our CMO volumes by at least 20 percent and our plans to build a new tobacco harm reduction category around our FDA-authorized VLN products, we intend to become cash positive by the first quarter of 2025.

“Dan and Jonathan have been key contributors to these turnaround efforts at 22nd Century, helping us to exit the hemp/cannabis business and significantly reduce our quarterly cash use as reported in our year-end results,” Firestone added. “I also want to thank Hugh for his hard work on behalf of 22nd Century, and in particular over the past several months as we worked to transform our financial footprint.”