Martello is ‘more than just a T-shirt’ Bruce Linton wore: CEO

The head of a small Canadian technology firm is looking forward to having more of Bruce Linton’s time and guidance after the former co-CEO and chairman of Canopy Growth Corp. (WEED.TO) was ousted last week from the cannabis company he helped found.

“He’s got a little bit more time for us –  and that brings an enormous value to our team,” said John Proctor, president and chief executive officer of Martello Technologies Group Inc. (MTLO.V), in an interview with BNN Bloomberg’s Jon Erlichman Monday.

Linton is currently co-chairman of the Kanata, Ont.-based software services company and was its chief executive officer until Proctor took over at the end of 2017.

Linton told BNN Bloomberg he would be “helping [Martello] out a bit more” after it was announced he was stepping down from Canopy.

Shares of Martello have more than tripled since Linton left Canopy last Wednesday and sported a Martello T-shirt during multiple television interviews throughout the day, including on BNN Bloomberg.   

“What I think really happened was Bruce wore the T-shirt and that sort of shone a bit of a spotlight on Martello,” Proctor said. “When people looked at us they found we were fairly substantial – they probably thought we were a little bit undervalued and reacted accordingly.

“We’re more than just a T-shirt that Bruce wore.”

Proctor said he plans to grow Martello both organically and through acquisitions of Canadian and international companies with Linton’s help.

“[Linton] has been a very solid co-chair for us, guiding us on acquisitions,” Proctor said.

“Bruce is Bruce,” he added. “He’s straight, rolls up his sleeves, wants to get involved in the company … So it’s fairly easy for him to sort of guide us and just drop in, in that respect.”