(This story and headline have been updated to reflect that the parties announced a definitive agreement and that Verano’s valuation as a public company will be $2.8 billion.)
Multistate marijuana company Verano Holdings signed a definitive agreement to go public on the Canadian Securities Exchange at a value of $2.8 billion through a reverse takeover (RTO) of an existing, publicly held company.
The move comes only a month after Chicago-based Verano agreed to acquire Florida-based Alternative Medical Enterprises (AltMed), and nine months after an $850 million deal with Arizona-based Harvest Health & Recreation collapsed.
Capital is loosening after some tight times as evidenced by California-based Weedmaps last week announced a deal to go public at a $1.5 billion valuation.
Verano intends to do a reverse takeover of Calgary, Alberta-based Majesta Minerals.
BNN Bloomberg first reported the company’s plan to go public.
Verano hopes to raise between $50 million to $100 million in capital from the offering, according to a news release. The parties said they hope to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2021.
“Becoming a public company will give us access to capital to execute our long-term strategy of expanding into limited-license, high-growth markets and scaling both our wholesale and retail operations into new and existing markets,” Verano founder and CEO George Archos said in a statement.
Verano currently is active in 12 states, including Illinois, New Jersey and Nevada, with 18 retail locations and 440,000 square feet of cultivation facilities.
The company is projecting revenues of $350 million-$380 million this year, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
Verano’s acquisition of AltMed will create one of the country’s largest cannabis operators with 44 retail locations in 14 states.
