THIS time last year cannabis businesses were in the doldrums so the picture currently being viewed would have seemed a mirage back then.
Stock prices have roared back with investor confidence buoyed by improving global regulatory environments, surging consumer spend and increasing medical approval.
Canadian cannabis sales rose by 20% in the third quarter supported by more store openings and the launch of new product formats. Cannabis accounted for C$14.6bn (£8.5bn) of GDP in September, say StatsCan.
Cannabis company stock prices last December were down, on average, 50% year-on-year, but have returned with aplomb – the New Cannabis Ventures Global Cannabis Stock Index is up almost 150% from its early 2020 lows.
Tilray And Aphria Merge
Businesses are now looking ahead – rather than firefighting the detritus. Weedmaps, Auxly and Verano Holdings are all turning to the markets to support their ambitions.
Earlier this week two of Canada’s leading players merged in a deal creating one of the largest cannabis companies on the planet.
The all-stock deal between Tilray and Aphria, creating a new entity – trading under Tilray’s ticker on the Nasdaq – has an equity value of about C$4.8bn (£2.8bn).
Annual sales of the new business at C$874m (£500m) surpasses that of other leading firms such as Curaleaf Holdings and Canopy Growth Corp, reports Bloomberg.
Nevertheless there are still some issues Canadian with both Canopy and Aurora closing facilities due to an oversupply in the market.
EMMAC Secures £15m
In Europe, one of its largest medical cannabis companies EMMAC Life Sciences yesterday announced a £15m fund-raise to support growth, advised by London-based corporate finance specialists Chrystal Capital Partners.
Measure 8 Venture Partners, EMMAC’s largest existing cash investor, led the Convertible Loan Notes funding round with a ‘significant’ investment. EMMAC’s divisions include R&D, cultivation, extraction, production and distribution.
Tristan Gervais, Head of Chrystal Capital Cannabis Advisory (CCCA), said: “We are delighted to have advised EMMAC on this successful, oversubscribed £15m raise. Our cannabis sector expertise, married with our deep relationships with cannabis investors, continue to deliver much needed growth capital to this exciting, fast growing industry.
“CCCA is uniquely positioned to back leaders like EMMAC as the secular wave of cannabis deregulation and legalisation continues to unfold at pace across the world.”
Meanwhile, one of the UK’s few listed cannabis companies Zoetic International is capping a successful year which has seen its share price rise by almost 1,000% from a little over 6p to 65p.
Formerly an oil and gas businesses known as Highlands Natural Resources, it recently signed a deal with the Asian America Trade Association that sees its Chill brand of CBD products debut in tens of thousands of retail stores across the US.
In France, the Government has released further details to businesses looking to supply its small scale – 3,000 patient – medical cannabis trial, reports Marijuana Business Daily.
