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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With the rise of adult use cannabis, experts see medical marijuana dominated by two distinct markets.
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