Canada-based cannabis companies raised more than 3 billion Canadian dollars ($2.2 billion) in the first half of 2018 – a record amount – as the industry scales to meet expected exceptional demand when recreational sales kick off in October.
The total represents a mammoth 1,200% increase over the same period in 2017, when CA$222 million in equity and debt was raised, according to New York-based Viridian Capital Advisors.
Canada’s capital-hungry marijuana companies are increasingly turning to debt to fuel growth.
Access to debt rose from CA$30.8 million in the first half of 2017 to CA$658.2 million in the same period of 2018. (That does not include a CA$200 million loan by Alberta-based Aurora Cannabis last month.)
The number of equity financings rose from 19 in the first half of 2017 to 118 a year later, while the number of debt financings doubled from 10 to 22.
“There are still investors who believe that virtually any cannabis investment is a good one at this stage, given the nascent stage of the industry – that one can’t lose when it comes to cannabis,” said Louis Barré, president of Ottawa-based Cannab Intel, a cannabis consultancy.
He warned that other investors are much more cautious, recognizing that it already may be too late in certain parts of the sector and there’s a need to be highly selective and strategic.
“Not all companies will be winners as the industry matures and consolidates,” he said.
Matt Lamers can be reached at [email protected]
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And it’s being laundered into the fat wallets of US investors, for whom are committing a federal crime profiting from cannabis sales. As well as putting that cash in Tax Havens which is also a crime of Tax Evasion, Or Organized Crime.
Tax havens fund Canadian pot companies
They took advantage of offshore funds
ABCANN GLOBAL
Cayman Islands: $ 12.4 million
Guernsey: $ 150,000
AURORA CANNABIS
Cayman Islands: $ 32.5 million
Barbados: $ 202,500
CANNTRUST HOLDINGS
Cayman Islands: $ 2 million
Bahamas: $ 549,000
Switzerland: $ 110,000
Belize: $ 50,000
Channel Islands: $ 75,000
SUPREME CANNABIS CORPORATION
Switzerland: $ 100,000
Belize: $ 100,000
Bahamas: $ 130,000
Cayman Islands: $ 10.5 million
Guernsey: $ 366,000
United Arab Emirates: $ 25,000
CANNABIS WHEATON INCOME CORP
Singapore: $ 10,000
Cayman Islands: $ 20.5 million
Switzerland: $ 20,000
HYDROPOTHECARY
Cayman Islands: $ 15 million
United Arab Emirates: $ 700,000
Bahamas: $ 751,500
DELSHEN THERAPEUTICS (48 North)
British Virgin Islands: $ 3 million
Switzerland: $ 200,000
CRONOS GROUP
Singapore: $ 225,000
NEWSTRIKE RESOURCES
Bahamas: $ 47,500
Singapore: $ 70,000
Switzerland: $ 24,400
EMBLEM CANNABIS CORP
Panama: $ 200,000
Switzerland: $ 188,650
Bahamas: $ 308,550
Cayman Islands: $ 8.3 million
Dominica: $ 47,190
Belize: $ 40,250
British Virgin Islands: $ 21,275
Isle of Man: $ 57,500
Luxembourg: $ 69,000
GOLDEN LEAF HOLDING
Bahamas: $ 308,000
Cayman Islands: $ 5.7 million
INVICTUS ®
Seychelles: $ 765,000
Cayman Islands: $ 14.13 million
Switzerland: $ 27,000
Luxembourg: $ 78,750
United Arab Emirates: $ 10,500
MARICANN GROUP
Cayman Islands: $ 9.76 million
Bahamas: $ 50,000
THE GREEN ORGANIC DUTCHMAN
Singapore: $ 9900
Hong Kong: $ 47,850
Barbados: $ 99,825
Bermuda: $ 115,500
Cayman Islands: $ 553,000
Monaco: $ 34,980
United Arab Emirates: $ 24,750
Dominica: $ 123,750
Luxembourg: $ 23,098
Switzerland: $ 50,000
Curacao: $ 11,500
Aruba: $ 5750
Panama: $ 80,500
Malta: $ 10,000
British Virgin Islands: $ 10,000
Belize: $ 75,000
Marshall Islands: $ 10,000
HARVEST ONE CANNABIS
Cayman Islands: $ 4.37M
Luxembourg: $ 600,000
Belize: $ 99,750
Bahamas: $ 225,000
Hong Kong: $ 499,999
WEEDMD
Cayman Islands: $ 2.28 million
Bahamas: $ 25,000
DELTA 9 BIOTECH
Belize: $ 22,000
Cayman Islands: $ 25,000
Singapore: $ 300,000
DOJA CANNABIS
Cayman Islands: $ 12.5 million
Bahamas: $ 70,000
INDIVA LIMITED
Cayman Islands: $ 199,500
FV PHARMA
Panama: $ 50,000
Malta: $ 50,000
Hong Kong: $ 2 million
Belize: $ 50,000
Bahamas: $ 10,000
SUNDIAL GROWERS
Bermuda: $ 540,000
TOTAL OFFSHORE FUNDS: $ 165.2 MILLION