Ghassan Halazon

The wild story of how we sold SHOP to SHOPIFY in 12 days.. We were short $500K to close an opportunistic acquisition (T2G). Out of nowhere, I was reminded that we had been sitting on these premium SHOP domains that we picked up years back. Naturally, Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP), the world’s largest e-commerce tech co., was the fitting buyer. It took about 12 days from reaching out to Harley Finkelstein, @Shopify President to closing the deal. The last minute proceeds from the Shop sale were the final $ needed to close the T2G acquisition, which has since added $1M+/ year in EBITDA, and has been a big part of our turnaround this year (we recouped our upfront investment in the first 90 days). As far as we’re aware, it was the largest .ca domain sale of the year in Canada. Not huge $ but it was a nice last minute gift (on Xmas eve nonetheless!), and just in time to close our game-changing acquisition. If only it had been a .com instead of a .ca 😅 Stay scrappy, my friends 👊🏼

This week has to go down in history as one of the most active weeks in consumer M&A history, with over $3B deployed into 5 transactions in the last 4 days! All of these brands are generating north of $100m in sales, with a good mix of PE and strategic buyers. That's a refreshing mix - 2025 was a good year in consumer M&A with lots of fireworks, but one layer deeper the dollars were completely dominated by large strategic acquirers.

Our company is growing up and so is the way we are starting to think of the business.. Today, we provided Cash Flow figures for Viral Loops, our recently announced acquisition, based on preliminary (unaudited) results for 2025: Cash Flow: $700K Adj. EBITDA to Cash Flow Conversion(1): 86% Based on these results, the $2.3M total purchase price for Viral Loops represents approximately 3.3x cash flow. With cash flow becoming an increasing priority at EMERGE, we wanted to give investors more visibility into Viral Loops' cash flow profile. This level of cash generation demonstrates the quality of the earnings and the asset-light nature of the platform. Viral Loops operates with a lean team, a disciplined marketing budget, and minimal working capital requirements, which has translated into consistent profitability and cash generation. We look forward to integrating Viral Loops and strengthening EMERGE overall. @EMERGE_ECOM $ECOM.v

Tune into our webcast at 11am EST today for a deep dive into the Viral Loops acquisition, our overall progress and plans, followed by investor Q&A. Register below: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regist… $ECOM.v @EMERGE_ECOM

@WolfOfOakville I don’t get it, all I said was I’m glad you and your members captured/ participated in that upside. If you’re sharing this to say your timing is impeccable, for now, sure, over the long run, only time will tell! Generally enjoy your content/ insights

$ECOM.V Hang it in the Louvre.

Due to strong investor demand, we're upsizing our private placement announced last Wednesday to $2.5M, from $1.8M. We believe investor interest validates the accretive acquisition of Viral Loops, as well as our overall operational execution at EMERGE. The upsized offering is meant to now fund the entire purchase price, including the deferred consideration and transaction costs, allowing the company to more fully retain the cash flow generated by Viral Loops, and in the process, strengthen the balance sheet. Closing is expected on or around March 4. We are grateful for everyone's support. @EMERGE_ECOM

Next up.. 𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗘 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗽𝘀, 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺, 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 $𝟭.𝟴𝗠 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸 ·    Viral Loops enables businesses to run referral campaigns to acquire and retain customers ·    𝗩𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗔$𝟭.𝟯𝗠 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲, 𝟴𝟲% 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗔$𝟴𝟬𝟬𝗞 𝗔𝗱𝗷. 𝗘𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗗𝗔(𝟭) (~𝟲𝟮% 𝗔𝗱𝗷. 𝗘𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗗𝗔(𝟭) 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻) 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 (𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱) ·    Purchase price of CA$2.3M (~𝟮.𝟵𝙭 𝘼𝙙𝙟. 𝙀𝘽𝙄𝙏𝘿𝘼(1) 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚) ·    Inclusive of Viral Loops, 𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗘’𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗔𝗱𝗷. 𝗘𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗗𝗔(𝟭) 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 $𝟮.𝟮𝗠, a ~52% increase, based on preliminary (unaudited) results ·    First B2B acquisition under newly formed “𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙍𝙂𝙀 𝘽2𝘽” vertical, set up to enhance the Company’s overall financial profile and drive portfolio synergies ·    The Company announces a concurrent, non-brokered private placement for $1.8M 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗲 • 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀: Viral Loops’ referral technology is expected to be deployed across EMERGE’s Direct-to-Consumer (“D2C”) Grocery and Golf verticals to drive cost-effective customer acquisitions and “word-of-mouth” campaigns 𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 (“𝗥𝗢𝗜𝗖”) (1) expected to exceed 25% in Year 1 𝗼 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗘𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗗𝗔(𝟭) 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 given the asset-light nature of the business model (no inventory) 𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Viral Loops generates recurring revenue throughout the year, which is expected to reduce the seasonality inherent in EMERGE’s consumer-facing businesses and enhance overall earnings stability Viral Loops is precisely the type of high-margin, recurring revenue business we aim to acquire — profitable, cash-flow generative, and strategically complementary to our portfolio. At ~2.9x Adj. EBITDA, we believe this transaction reflects disciplined capital allocation with compelling immediate returns. We are impressed with the lean team running the business and their tech-forward AI roadmap that we believe has the potential to both take Viral Loops to the next level, as well as super-charge the overall EMERGE portfolio. (𝘍𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸)

With these preliminary results, we can now confidently say that EMERGE has delivered on its 3 core operational objectives for 2025, achieving organic revenue growth, positive Adj. EBITDA and positive cash flow for the full year 👊🏼👊🏼 $ECOM.v @EMERGE_ECOM

𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 Every capital allocation decision now begins and ends with enhancing profitability, and ultimately cash flow generation, with the goal of reinvesting into future growth and lowering our cost of capital, re-enforcing the flywheel. Worth noting, we will also continue to aim for moderate, positive organic revenue growth, with higher growth expected to be derived from acquisitions, as demonstrated by T2G’s impact (𝘌𝘔𝘌𝘙𝘎𝘌 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 ~45% 𝘪𝘯 2025 𝘠𝘛𝘋). Over time, our aspiration is to emulate long-term, cash-flow-focused compounders — not “growth at all costs” models. (𝘌𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘑𝘢𝘯 2026 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 - Re-EMERGE, available on our corporate site) $ECOM.v

Read the “Re-EMERGE” shareholder letter here: emerge-brands.com

One of the reasons I wrote such a candid shareholder letter was to attract and retain serious, long-term shareholders. Investor messages like this one reinforce a simple belief of mine: 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀.. 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁! Owning past missteps, sticking with it, and remaining level-headed about the road ahead builds trust. Trust, along with continued execution, is what creates lasting shareholder value. Thank you for your enduring support ❤️ $ECOM.v (Link to 𝘮𝘺 𝘑𝘢𝘯 2026 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 👇)

On the back of the success of the T2G acquisition, future acquisitions must reflect the spirit of that transaction: disciplined pricing that clears our return on invested capital (“ROIC”) hurdle rates, cash-flow positive within the first year, and meaningful synergies with our existing portfolio. During this phase, we are focused on the following verticals: · Grocery – Building around truLOCAL, a formidable brand, and the Canadian market leader in D2C meat and seafood subscription, well positioned to tuck-in various players in the D2C food/ tech space, including direct competitors, adjacent “healthy/ local” food brands, and corporate gifting (B2B) businesses. · Golf – Our North American golf platform now includes UnderPar, JustGolfStuff, and T2G. Our 3-brand, 400,000 member portfolio is an excellent starting point for bolt-on acquisitions across golf experiences, products, apparel, media and tech. · E-commerce Enablement / Digital Services– Our objective is to assemble a suite of B2B apps and tools that can super-charge our portfolio leveraging the latest technologies, including AI, while enhancing margins, cash flow, reducing seasonality, and balancing inventory-heavy businesses with asset-light additions. It is our belief that these verticals have tremendous total addressable markets and potential over the long-run, a mix of organic and inorganic growth. (Extract from my letter to shareholders that can be found on our corporate site, emerge-brands.com) $ECOM.v

.@EMERGE_ECOM (TSXV:ECOM) is sharpening its focus on profitable niche verticals to drive sustainable growth. In this exclusive #Csuite interview, $ECOM CEO Ghassan Halazon breaks down the company’s evolution into a leaner, more profitable operator: 🎯 Niche Strategy: The company's pivot to focus on high-retention "hero" brands like truLOCAL (premium meats) and UnderPar (golf experiences). 🤝Strategic M&A: How the acquisition of Tee 2 Green deepens their dominance in the golf vertical and aligns with their streamlined playbook. 💰Financial Discipline: How their tighter operational focus is successfully improving margins, cash flow, and recurring subscription revenue. Watch below to learn more.👇

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟭𝟬 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 from building, buying, and restructuring e-commerce brands (~$1𝘉𝘕 𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘎𝘔𝘝): 1. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 (𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁). What you pay disproportionately determines whether a deal succeeds. We recouped our cash payment on #T2G within 90 days, as we negotiated just over ~1x EBITDA upfront. 𝟮. 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁. Proven, “old school” businesses bought at the right price trumps buying the next shiny thing. 𝘉𝘶𝘺 “𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨”, 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 “𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘺” 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝟯. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. We found greater success going deep into a vertical (vs. broad), allowing us to zone in on every aspect of building an ideal customer experience and sound operating metrics. Extreme focus at @TruLocal reignited growth and materially improved profitability. 𝟰. 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲. Find out who your true stars are, incentivize them accordingly, and get out of the way. Conversely, toxic talent has to go FAST (no matter how talented). 𝟱. 𝗖𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥!  Survival alone creates opportunity. When T2G appeared, being alive mattered. 𝟲. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀-𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁. 10% downside sensitivity isn’t enough. Model 30%. “Once-in-a-lifetime” macro events seem to happen every ~10 years 𝟳. 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦. Beyond public requirements, focus relentlessly on results. Let the numbers speak, first. 𝟴. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱. Durable e-commerce requires real brand and community. truLOCAL’s ~$2,000 CLTV vs. ~$124 CAC reflects a purpose-driven brand with durability. 𝟵. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆. We questioned every cost, renegotiated every material vendor agreement, and pushed a culture of “𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵.” We funded the T2G acquisition by selling our dormant #SHOP domains to #Shopify among other legacy assets, and replaced them with a high-quality, cash-generative business. “𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺” remains a defining characteristic of EMERGE. We guard the Company’s cash rigorously, and we intend to keep it that way. 𝟭𝟬. 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁. In business, and in life, the people you surround yourself matter, even more so when you are climbing seemingly insurmountable mountains. Grateful for everyone who believed in us to embark on and execute this improbable turnaround, which we continue to execute. We have a relentless team, a highly engaged Board and a long-term investor base. Thank you all for your enduring support and commitment ❤️ 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘃? 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄.. 𝘌𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵/ 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 (𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 👇) @EMERGE_ECOM

Read the letter here: s26.q4cdn.com/499705092/file…

𝗥𝗲-𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗘: 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗔𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 Most shareholder letters today read like a stream of PR chest-thumping milestones wrapped in endless layers of “awesomeness.” Not this one. This letter is a candid reflection on what went wrong in our first chapter (ECOM 1.0) as a public company, the difficult but necessary decisions made to execute a multi-year turnaround (ECOM 2.0), and what must go right in our next phase (ECOM 3.0) for EMERGE to truly re-emerge. I also share 10 valuable lessons from my experience building, buying, restructuring and selling e-commerce brands. I spent my holidays writing this letter so if you find value in it, I ask that you take 10 seconds to share it with investors, operators/ teams, and aspiring entrepreneurs. Thank you to everyone who believed in us to execute this multi-year turnaround. The road ahead is a road we can finally see again. Onwards.. @EMERGE_ECOM $ECOM.v (Link to shareholder letter below 👇👇 )

@muratbner_er Glad to hear! Thanks for sharing. We are very proud of the @TruLocal way

@instajee I am small investor got in at .065 and .07, i recently purchased one of the true local packages, very good experience, from packeging to delivery. The quality of the meat is amazing, so far tried Turkey bacon and beef liver. I will keep my membership going.

$ECOM was one of the big turnaround stories of 2025 for Canadian SmallCap. Relentless team effort 🔥 No victory laps yet. Still a LONG way to go. Now, it’s time to do it all over again. Hello, 2026 ❤️👊🏼👀

Online RETAIL is here to stay.. And so are RETAIL investors! I see YOU 👀🔥 Grateful for everyone’s support and interest this year. Catch you all on the other side 🎅🏻🎄❤️ $ECOM.v

Warrants outstanding at $ECOM.v: A Year Ago: ~30M Today: 0 Fun Facts Friday ✅👀 @EMERGE_ECOM

@WolfOfOakville Michael Saylor would be jealous. Glad you fed your pack. Au revoir..

$ECOM.V on a 65% run since my entry off my August FINS review. #FinsDontLie