Shares in California cannabis cultivation powerhouse Glass House Group will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the company announced.
The second U.S.-based plant touching marijuana company to list on the NYSE after Florida marijuana multistate operator Trulieve Cannabis Corp., Glass House recently restructured to become a medical cannabis-only company.
That followed Trulieve’s lead, and that allowed Glass House, which pursued registration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as soon as that became available following the Justice Department’s April final order reclassifying state-licensed medical cannabis as a Schedule 3 drug, to satisfy NYSE rules, company President Graham Farrar told MJBizDaily on Friday.
“We’re legit,” said Farrar, whose company surged to a valuation of $1 billion, based on recent trading. “Ford Motor Company is on the NYSE, and we’re going to be next to them.”
Glass House had been in contact with NYSE for about a year, Farrar said.
Shares in the company, still trading on OTC markets, surged from $11.01 at the end of trading Wednesday to $12.30 near the close of trading on Friday.
How did cannabis cultivator Glass House uplist?
The company said last week that it applied to list on the NYSE after “segregating” its medical and adult-use businesses.
That entailed reclassifying its enormous cultivation operations in Southern California from its adult-use retail shops.
According to documents filed with the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) – where Glass House is currently listed – the company’s California-based adult-use cannabis retail operation is now held by its “former indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary,” Glass House Retail.
The two companies are still related. A Glass House subsidiary owns 90% of Glass House Retail, with outside investor NSJB Investments, acquiring 10% for “approximately $2.5 million,” according to documents filed with the CSE.
Glass House is working with state regulators to legally export cannabis to other DEA-licensed operators, Farrar said.
Other U.S. cannabis companies to apply for uplisting include Curaleaf Holdings and Verano Holding Corp.
Both recently announced reverse stock splits to comply with NYSE minimum share price requirements, but both also have adult-use cannabis operations.
Glass House fends off Trump administration accusations of child labor
Separately, the company seems to have resolved an outstanding concern related to the deadly Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on its facilities last year.
According to the Ventura County Star, the state Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) fined Glass House $21,000 for lacking “adequate procedures and documentation to verify and record worker ages” at its operations.
Glass House has appealed the fine, the newspaper reported.
Following the ICE raids last July, the Trump administration accused Glass House of using undocumented workers and child labor.
More than 300 people were detained following raids on Glass House properties in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and one worker died after falling from a roof while attempting to hide.
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However, state regulators had visited Glass House the prior May and “observed no minors on the premises,” according to the DCC.
Workers as young as 14 are allowed to work in agriculture, but must be 21 to work in cannabis.
