Marijuana Business Magazine February 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | February 2020 26 By Omar Sacirbey Curaleaf Lands $300 Million in Debt Funding Curaleaf , a Massachusetts-based multistate marijuana operator, secured $300 million in debt from a syndicate of lenders. It’s believed to be the largest debt raise in the U.S. marijuana industry. The company plans to use the money to refinance existing debt and fund previously announced acquisition expenses and capital expenditures. The 48-month loan has an annual interest rate of 13%. Akerna Acquires Ample Organic Akerna , a Denver-based cannabis compliance technology provider, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Toronto-based Ample Organics in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at up to $45 million (CA$60 million). Ample Organics serves more than 70% of the Canadian market with its seed-to-sale platform. Akerna’s purchase is comprised of $5.7 million in cash and $32.3 million in Akerna stock payable on closing. Additional consideration of $7.6 million in the form of a stock-based deferred consideration may be paid to Ample Organics shareholders if certain revenue targets are achieved in 2020. VidaCann Invests $25 Million for Florida Expansion VidaCann , a medical marijuana company based in Jacksonville, Florida, announced a $25 million investment that includes expansion of its cannabis cultivation facility in the state. The company forecast the expansion to be completed at the end of 2021. The announcement comes only weeks after Chicago- based Cresco Labs terminated a $120 million acquisition of VidaCann. Harvest Health Buys MJardin Grow Phoenix-based Harvest Health & Recreation , one of the nation’s biggest multistate operators, paid $35 million to acquire a 32,000-square-foot cultivation facility in Las Vegas from MJardin Group , a cannabis production company with offices in Denver and Toronto. MJardin plans to use the proceeds to reduce its debt and for working capital. Justice Grown Coming to Missouri, Utah Justice Grown , a multistate operator with licenses in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, added to that list with the acquisition of three cannabis cultivation licenses in Missouri and two cannabis pharmacy licenses in Utah. Justice Grown’s Utah licenses allow the company to operate locations in Salt Lake City and St. George. It’s not clear where the Missouri cultivation sites will be. In Pennsylvania, where Justice Grown already operates two medical marijuana dispensaries, it plans to open a third dispensary as well as a new cultivation site in 2020. Also in development is the company’s first recreational dispensary in Santa Rosa, California. Justice Grown is constructing a New Jersey cultivation operation and its first dispensary in the state, as well as a new cultivation facility in Illinois. Sweet Dirt, ArchSolar Partner on New Greenhouse Sweet Dirt , a cannabis company in Eliot, Maine, and ArchSolar , a national provider of environmentally sustainable greenhouses, partnered to build a 32,800-square-foot extreme- light-deprivation greenhouse. Construction was scheduled to begin in January. Infused Beverage Firm Enters Canada Sōrse Technology , a Seattle-based provider of water-soluble CBD, hemp and terpene emulsion for infused brands, announced an amended manufacturing and sales license agreement with The Valens Co. of Canada. The agreement grants Valens a license to produce, market, package, sell and distribute products made with Sōrse’s proprietary emulsion technology to markets in Europe, Australia and Mexico—in addition to Canada. The agreement also allows for Valens to produce and sell Sōrse products in the agreed-upon territories, including two infused beverages in Washington state: Happy Apple, a cannabis-infused apple cider, and Major, a cannabis-infused fruit drink. The initial five- year agreement will increase the addressable market by almost 20 times, from 37 million people in the current Canadian agreement to 700 million people in the new international agreement. Sōrse Technology currently works with more than 30 brand clients in the United States, including CBD beverage makers Mad Tasty and Vybes. U.S. DEVELOPMENTS Company News | U.S., Canada & International Recent deals, acquisitions and other announcements from cannabis companies