Marijuana Business Magazine - Issue 09, Oct 2017

COMPANY NEWS & Recent deals, acquisitions and other announcements from North American cannabis companies Wheelin' Dealin' by Roger Fillion Privateer Reels in $58 Million Marijuana-focused private equity company Privateer Holdings – coming off a $122 million funding year – has increased its coffers with a significant raise of $58 mil- lion. The Seattle-based company’s recent Series B raise is a combination of equity and a convertible note. In 2016, Privateer became the first marijuana company to raise more than $100 million, and its latest funding brings the 7-year-old firm’s total to $180 million. Privateer owns U.S. cannabis companies Leafly, Marley Natural and Canadian medical marijuana licensed producer Tilray . Cannabis Company Buys California Town An Arizona-based ancillary marijuana company pur- chased a California town with the aim of transforming it into a cannabis tourism mecca, although the purchase already has encountered legal issues with the local county. American Green , based in Phoenix, paid $5 mil- lion for the 80-acre town of Nipton, near the California- Nevada border. Nipton is about a one-hour drive from the Las Vegas Strip and four hours from Los Angeles. But the plan could be in jeopardy because of a county ordinance that bars all sales, distribution and production of marijuana in unincorporated areas, including Nipton. The county counsel’s office reportedly sent American Green a letter soon after the deal notifying the company of the law, warning it will take appropriate legal action if necessary. Maricann Inks Acquisition, Funding Maricann Group , a Toronto medical marijuana producer and distributor, agreed to purchase biotech company NanoLeaf Technologies for $30 million (CA $38.5 million). Under the acquisition, shareholders of Toronto-based NanoLeaf will receive some 18.3 million common shares of Maricann stock at $1.68 per share. Maricann will also loan NanoLeaf roughly $1.3 million in cash. In another development, Maricann secured up to $28 million in funding through a private placement of convertible debt. The funding will allow Maricann to expand annual production capacity at its facility in Langton, Ontario, by roughly 77,000 pounds to more than to 125,000 pounds. American Green wants to make Nipton, California, a marijuana tourism mecca. 114 • Marijuana Business Magazine • October 2017