MSO Ascend Wellness Holdings soared 22% in its debut on the Canadian Securities Exchange, reaching a market cap of $1.6B. The pop comes after a slow April for pot stocks.
Reuters, New Cannabis Ventures
- The company posted $144M in revenue last year.
- Reuters reports that before deciding to go public Ascend had preliminary talks about an acquisition by Florida-based MSO Trulieve. CEO Abner Kurtin said the company remains open to being acquired if there’s a “strategic fit.”
- The company, which acquired MedMen‘s New York assets in February, has a taste for distressed assets, Kurtin told Business Insider. (Paywall)
- It went public through a traditional IPO rather than a reverse takeover, in part because it aspires to uplist to the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ once that’s legally possible.
- The company just opened the first REC shop in downtown Boston.
Quick Hit
- Hopes that Rhode Island and Minnesota would legalize REC this year have faded, but Texas may still loosen its MED law.
MJBiz
