Feb 19 (Reuters) - Cannabis firm Tilt Holdings Inc TILT.CD named interim boss Mark Scatterday as chief executive officer on Wednesday, tasking him with turning around a company that teetered on the brink of collapse last year and lost almost $1 billion in market value.
Tilt, one of the top five U.S. cannabis companies by revenue, also appointed Chief Operating Officer Tim Conder to the additional role of president.
Formed by a four-way merger late in 2018, Tilt is also considering plans to sell its pot production business, among other options, as it sharpens its focus on cannabis-related technology, Conder told Reuters in an interview.
Scatterday and Conder moved into Tilt leadership roles last year, months after the company wrote down its assets by about $500 million as the sector struggles with oversupply, a sluggish retail rollout in Canada and uncertainties about the legalization of weed in the United States.
Several top cannabis producers including Aurora Cannabis Inc ACB.TO and Tilray Inc TLRY.O have announced layoffs and other cost-cutting measures to cope with the slump.
Scatterday and Conder said Tilt does not need to raise capital in the near future or make sweeping layoffs.
Tilt reported an adjusted profit for the third quarter in November, helped by lower costs and a focus on high-margin businesses such as the vaping hardware maker Jupiter Research, which was founded by Scatterday.
Scatterday, who joined Tilt in late 2018 when it bought Jupiter, said the business took a hit in the fourth quarter because of bans on vaping in multiple U.S. states but was now growing again.
"We're really not concerned about it anymore... As we progress into 2020, those concerns have really subsided... now that there's been a focus on removing illicit or black market products," Scatterday said.