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Aleafia Health Inc (CVE:ALEF) Graduation to TSX & Emblem Corp (CVE:EMC) Agreement - YouTube
Channel: Midas Letter
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[Intro music]
Narrator: Aleafia Health, Inc. is a Canadian
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licensed producer and vendor of cannabis.
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The company has a planned and fully funded
annual production capacity of 98,000 kilograms
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of dried cannabis flower.
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Aleafia operates medical cannabis clinics
staffed by physicians and nurse practitioners
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with over 50,000 patients.
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In December of 2018, Aleafia Health acquired
Emblem Corp. in an all-share transaction valued
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at approximately 173.2 million.
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Aleafia Health Inc. is listed on the TSX Venture
under the ticker symbol ALEF.
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Howard Glassman: And our guest is the CFO
of Aleafia.
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I say it slowly so I don’t slur it: Aleafia
Health, which is, it’s got to be an exciting
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day for Benjamin Ferdinand.
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How are you, sir?
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Great to see you.
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Howard Glassman: Nice to see you.
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Thanks for coming in!
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Thank you.
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Howard Glassman: Are you feeling good today?
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It’s got to be amazing: you’re on the
junior exchange, you get listed…talk to
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us about the process.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah, so it’s been an
exciting process for us, and you know, we
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recently just achieved the top performing
company for TSX Venture, so that’s very
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exciting, and over the last, you know, couple
of days, we’ve just announced that we are
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going to be upgrading to the TSX senior exchange,
where it’s an elite company with the cannabis
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space.
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So we’re very excited about that, and it
shows our track record of execution.
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Howard Glassman: Well, let’s talk a little
bit about that for the company.
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I mean, as you say, you’ve just graduated;
we talked about it on the news this week.
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What is the upside of being on the TSX?
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Benjamin Ferdinand: So what it really allows
you to do is have access to a lot more institutional
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investors, which is exciting, and really where
you want to get to as our companies mature.
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And when we get close to the, you know, the
billion-dollar range, that’s when we start
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to be more attractive for those types of investors.
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And it also adds to the credibility and shows
our track record, so we’re excited.
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Howard Glassman: That kind of leads into my
next question, which is, you know, we’ll
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get into the business model in a moment; what
does it mean for shareholders?
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah.
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So from a shareholder perspective, I think
it helps to validate the trust that they have
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in us, and builds the credibility of the brand
that we have.
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So I think it’s really a sign that there’s
a lot more to come, and really validates it.
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Howard Glassman: Well, I can ask you a little
bit about your company.
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I mean, you know, this must have been a big
day for you guys in the office – you’re
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celebrating with, did you have, like, cake
and things?
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What is the company, did you have everyone
come into the lunchroom and somebody went
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out for muffins?
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What is it?
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah, so you know, we
have, you know, we’re getting to be a larger
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company, you know, but we still have the,
you know, start-up feel and enthusiasm.
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So we had, there were some high-fives.
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Howard Glassman: Were there?
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah.
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Howard Glassman: Benjamin.
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High-fives?
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Backslapping, yeah.
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Howard Glassman: The company, the leading
Canadian medical cannabis clinic and education
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centre network: 60,000 patients to date.
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Let’s talk a little bit about your company.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah.
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So what Aleafia Health is focused on is being
the leading health and wellness cannabis company
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globally, and that’s not just about having,
you know, products and services; what we’re
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really building is an ecosystem that’s self-reinforcing,
and we do that through four pillars.
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You know, one is our product division, which
is focused on growing, extraction and high
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value products such as, you know, gel caps,
extraction, you know, and sprays.
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You know, second is our health and wellness
division which, as you mentioned, is the largest
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clinic platform in Canada, giving us 60,000
patients seen.
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You know, third is our education platform,
which allows us to teach not only consumers
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but also doctors and large firms.
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Howard Glassman: Well, let’s just step in
there with doctors, because that really is,
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for a company like yours that’s doing what
you do, educating the public is one thing;
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but also gaining the trust of clinicians is
a whole other aspect.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah.
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Howard Glassman: Because, you know, I spoke
about this earlier this week with somebody,
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and I said, you know, a couple of years ago
I went to my doctor and the Ontario Medical
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Association really didn’t want to, you know,
deal with this until there was a lot more
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research.
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And companies like yours, I mean, I guess
that’s part of the education process.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Exactly, and one of our
key business model differentiators is working
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very closely with doctors.
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And to do that, you need the credibility that
we’re able to bring, and part of that is
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actually educating general practitioners as
you’ve highlighted, and becoming a thought
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leader in the space with some of our research
that’s come out around, you know, how cannabis
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can help getting off of addictive sedatives
as well as cannabis in the workplace, which
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is coming out as well.
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Howard Glassman: Well, that really is something
that I’ve done a lot of reading into about,
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you know, how there are so many products,
so many cannabis-related, you know, modalities,
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if you will, that are looking to replace some
harmful pharma- you know, chemical solutions
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to problems that, you know, doctors and people
have been looking at for years.
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And a company like yours, as you say, a thought
leader in educating not only the public, but
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the medical people as well.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah.
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And you hit the nail right on the head.
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We view ourselves really as cannabis, or sorry,
really as opioid crusaders, where we’re
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focused on getting people, you know, away
from addictive substances, and actually helping,
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you know, benefit their lives.
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And so I think this is all in the same vein.
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Howard Glassman: Well, you know, I love hearing
people like you talk about that, because there
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really is, I know there was a lot of giggling
that went on, oh, cannabis is going to be
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legal, weed’s going to be legal in Canada,
and I think the initial bloom was, Oh, great,
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we can all get high!
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And as I’ve said a ton of times, people
were already getting high; it’s the access
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to the sort of therapeutic use.
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I don’t think people considered that when
the announcement was made a few years ago.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: You’re completely right.
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Our core is focused on health and wellness,
and our target market, our average user, is,
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you know, is the Baby Boomer.
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So these are people who are, you know, generally
well off, but are using some things that aren’t
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good for themselves, right, such as opioids.
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And what we allow them to do is actually use
cannabis to help better their lifestyle.
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Howard Glassman: Well, you know, I was just
talking about with Ed a second ago about,
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you know, having trouble sleeping.
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As you age, you know, it’s a fact that sleep
is tougher to attain, and I love the fact
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you’re doing sprays and capsules and replacing,
you know, sleep medication with the person
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who knows the right dosage.
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Before I let you go, I want to talk about
the, you approved a takeover of Emblem.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: That’s right.
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Howard Glassman: Let’s talk about your takeover
and what was the reason, what it means to
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production capacity, all those sort of business
things, let’s talk about them.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah, so we’re really
excited.
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So our Emblem transaction, as you alluded
to, will be closing next week, and what it’s
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really allowed us to do is really build up
our ecosystem.
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So now we’re able to have our production
of cannabis as well as having what Emblem
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really brought, is extraction and product
development and distribution, and allowing
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that to complete our ecosystem with our medical
based patients.
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So, it really helped to create a sustainable,
defendable platform.
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It’s going to be difficult for our competitors
to replicate, and really helps us give our
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consumers what they want, when they want it.
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Howard Glassman: So that takes care of that
question.
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Will this affect the share price?
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah.
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So as I say, I can’t give forward guidance,
but what we’re -
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Howard Glassman: No, of course – I love
that, that’s such a great name: Forward
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guidance is a way for you to say, I can’t
tell ya.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: No, but what we can say
is we’re really excited about the ecosystem
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that we’ve built.
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It’s very defendable; we’re going to have
close to 140 million grams of production at
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the run rate, as well as the clients and patients
in the ecosystem to actually sell those products
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through.
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So it’s a very unique business model, and
we’re really excited about it.
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Howard Glassman: Good for you.
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What about some other partnerships outside
of Canada?
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah, so we’re focused
again, globally.
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As you alluded to, we’ve got a partnership
with CannaPacific, which is an Australian-based
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licensed producer, and we’re looking at
others as well, whether it be Germany, Europe,
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or other areas globally.
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But really, exporting our ecosystem globally.
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Howard Glassman: Well, listen: Benjamin Ferdinand,
the CFO of Aleafia – see, I get it now – Aleafia
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Health.
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Congratulations on all your success you got.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Thank you.
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Howard Glassman: You graduated to the big
Exchange, you were also, as you said off the
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top, recognized – what was that designation,
the award you -
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah, so Company of the
Year for TSX Venture 50.
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Howard Glassman: Company of the Year!
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Now, what was the criteria for that?
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Benjamin Ferdinand: So it was a combination
of largely share price and market cap.
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Howard Glassman: Was there a talent portion
of that pageant, was there?
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Benjamin Ferdinand: No, but you’d like to
think talent had something to do with it,
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but it was really all based on numbers.
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Howard Glassman: Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed
your time here today.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Yeah, this is fantastic.
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We really appreciate it.
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Howard Glassman: All the best to you, and
congratulations.
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Benjamin Ferdinand: Thank you.
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