MJBizMag April 2021 - 16

CompanyNews | U.S., Canada & International
By Omar Sacirbey
Recent deals, acquisitions
and other announcements
from cannabis companies
Dutchie Raises $200 Million
Cannabis retail technology platform Dutchie raised
$200 million in a Series C funding round it says values
the company at $1.7 billion. The funding round was
led by investment firm Tiger Global and also included
previous investors Casa Verde Capital and former
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.
The Oregon-based company also announced it had
Marijuana MSO Cresco Labs
Files $1 Billion Shelf Prospectus
Illinois-based marijuana
multistate operator Cresco Labs
filed a preliminary prospectus to
raise up to $1 billion in securities
over the next 25 months.
Cresco is the latest cannabis company to file a large,
so-called shelf registration as the investment climate for
marijuana companies brightens.
In January, Cresco raised $125 million in a securities
offering in Canada that was enabled by a shelf registration
filed in July 2019. That capital raise came around
the same time Cresco signed a definitive agreement to
acquire Bluma Wellness for $213 million in a move to
expand into Florida's high-growth MMJ market.
Cresco's shares trade on the U.S. over-the-counter
markets and on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
Marijuana SPAC Silver Spike II
Prices IPO to Raise $250 Million
Silver Spike Acquisition Corp.
II, a marijuana industry special
purpose acquisition company
(SPAC), priced an initial public
offering on the Nasdaq exchange to raise $250 million.
The company is issuing 25 million units at $10 each.
Each unit includes one share and one-quarter of a
redeemable warrant that entitles the holder to purchase
a share at $11.50 per warrant.
Silver Spike Acquisition Corp. II " intends to focus on
businesses in the cannabis industry that are compliant, "
but the SPAC could also target " related industries, "
according to a preliminary prospectus filed with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. " Given the
management team's extensive financial expertise, we
may also pursue a business combination in the financial
services and asset management industries. "
Silver Spike Acquisition Corp. II is headed by founder
and CEO Scott Gordon, who was also chief executive
of a previous SPAC, Silver Spike Acquisition Corp.,
that merged with cannabis tech firm Weedmaps in
December 2020.
16 Marijuana Business Magazine | April 2021
acquired two other marijuana software platforms,
Greenbits and LeafLogix, for undisclosed sums.
Cannabis MSO Verano to Expand
Via Deals Exceeding $100 Million
Cannabis multistate operator Verano Holdings
announced agreements to acquire a total of nine
operating retail outlets or licenses in Arizona, Illinois and
Pennsylvania for nearly $100 million in cash and tens of
millions of dollars more in stock.
The acquisitions include Perpetual Health Care in
Arizona, which operates the Emerald Dispensary in
Phoenix; the Herbal Care Center in Chicago; TerraVida
Holistic Centers, which operates three medical dispensaries
in Pennsylvania; and a license in Pennsylvania
that would enable Verano to open three dispensaries.
The announcement came shortly after Chicago-based
Verano raised nearly $80 million for acquisitions and
went public through a reverse takeover.
Charlotte's Web Plans to Enter Marijuana Market
Charlotte's Web Holdings, a Colorado-based, hempderived
CBD leader, said it signed a five-year purchase
agreement option to acquire Stanley Brothers USA
Holdings for $8 million. The deal is structured so
that Boulder-based Charlotte's Web can take over
the marijuana business once the drug is legalized
nationally-or perhaps earlier, depending on the policies
of the stock exchange where the company's securities
are listed.
Schwazze Completes Acquisition of Cannabis Stores
Schwazze, a Denver-based vertically integrated cannabis
operator, said it has acquired the five remaining Star
Buds retail outlets in Colorado for $72.3 million, including
$27.5 million in cash. With the acquisition, Schwazze,
formerly Medicine Man Technologies, now owns and
operates all 13 Star Buds locations in Colorado.
Schwazze previously acquired six Star Buds stores in
December 2020 and two in February 2021-with all
13 outlets pursuant to a June 2020 definitive agreement.
The terms included $26.9 million in sellers' notes and
$17.9 million in preferred stock.
U.S. DEVELOPMENTS
MJBizMag April 2021

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