New Cannabis Ventures’ Alan Brochstein writes $2 Billion in capital is awaiting deployment into the cannabis sector and “investors are writing blank checks.”
Massachusetts-based Curaleaf Holdings said it would acquire Grassroots cannabis for $875M. Acquiring the Chicago-based company will enable Curaleaf to gain a coveted place in the Illinois market.
Chicago Tribune
- According to Barron’s, the combined company will be the world’s largest marijuana seller with $250M in 2018 revenue.
- The combined company’s holdings include 68 dispensaries across 19 states and licenses for 63 more.
- The deal is expected to take a year to close.
Separately, private equity firms Cresco Capital Partners and Trivergance are taking over the influential investment network ArcView Group following their lead on a $7.7M investment in Arcview.
MJBiz Daily
- Since 2010Arcview says it has helped raise $260M for 212 cannabis companies.
- Arcview CEO Troy Dayton will remain in the post for now. “I’m a good enough CEO to have gotten us to this point. But I am also confident enough to say I am not the right person to take us to a $200 million company. (For that), we need to bring in the big guns.”
- Arcview was co-founded by Harborside founder Steve DeAngelo.
- I first wrote about Arcview in 2014, for Fast Company.
Quick Hits
- Philadelphia’s University of Sciences says it’s launching the first cannabis-focussed MBA program.
- Also in the Philly Inquirer, reporter Sam Wood explains Pennsylvania’s investigation into multi-state operator Harvest, which is also under investigation in Ohio.
- Bloomberg reports the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, is “likely” to start a cannabis exchange-traded fund.
