Cannex, 4Front complete cannabis merger; trading starts next week

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An almost $500 million merger of a Canadian and a U.S. marijuana company closed, months later than originally planned.

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Cannex Capital Holdings, a cannabis company with a cultivation and manufacturing presence in Washington state, and Phoenix-based multistate retail operator 4Front Holdings, begin trading next week as 4Front Ventures Corp.

Starting Tuesday, 4Front Ventures will trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker symbol FFNT.

The merger comes much later than initially expected.

When the deal, valued at roughly $485 million, was announced in October, it was expected to close in February.

Cannex initially was embroiled with antitrust filings surrounding the proposed merger.

The company later withdrew from Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust “second request” requirements after it determined it erred on the potential size of the transaction and the deal was not big enough to warrant such investigation.

The company said in a June 20 filing that both companies may still be subject to further investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding potential anticompetitive issues, but it would still press ahead with closing the transaction.

More details about the transaction can be found in this merger statement.