Deal Watch: Big players are behind marijuana M&A deals

Last week wasn’t the busiest for completed M&A deals in the cannabis industry, but some notable transactions were concluded – including one involving a well-established multistate operator (MSO) and another a relatively new but fast-emerging player on the scene. (See details below.)

There were only five completed M&A deals last week, bringing the total so far this year to 211. That compares with a total of 166 in a similar period in 2018.

This weekly series from Marijuana Business Daily and Viridian Capital Advisors provides the latest data on cannabis investment activity and M&A, along with key takeaways, analysis and trends based on recent market moves.

The data below, provided by Viridian Capital Advisors, is through the week ended July 12.

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Top raises closed last week:

• Demetrix, a California-based company, raised $50 million in a Series A funding to research synthetic cannabinoid production. The funding round was led by New York-based investment group Tuatara Capital with support from an existing investor, Horizons Ventures of Hong Kong.
• Sol Global, a Toronto-based cannabis investment group, raised 50 million Canadian dollars ($37.5 million) in debt financing. The company will use the proceeds to fund its expansion in CBD activities and operations in California, Florida and Michigan.

Top M&A deals closed last week:

• Harvest Health & Recreation, one of the largest MSOs in the United States, boosted its presence in Arizona with the acquisition of Leaf Life, which operates a medical marijuana dispensary in the state. Leaf Life is the 13^th dispensary in Arizona for Harvest, which now has rights to operate up to 18 dispensaries and cultivation/processing facilities there. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
• Jushi Holdings, a Florida-based cannabis company, closed a $63 million transaction to boost its presence in Pennsylvania. The acquisition of Franklin Bioscience involves up to 12 licenses for medical dispensaries.

Viridian Capital Advisors is a financial and strategic advisory firm that provides investment banking, M&A, corporate development and investor relations services to emerging growth companies and qualified investors in the cannabis sector.