New York-based, multi-state cannabis company Acreage Holdings announced it has raised $119 million through a Series E round of funding. this fundraising represents the largest private round in the history of the U.S. cannabis industry, surpassing the $100 million raised by Privateer Holdings in January of this year.
The company plans to use the capital to fund acquisitions and to prepare the company prior to listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE).
One of the largest vertically integrated multi-state cannabis companies in the U.S., Acreage currently owns or operates licenses in 13 U.S. states where either medical and/or adult use of marijuana is legalized. The company owns cultivation, processing, and dispensary assets, and has one of the largest footprints within the cannabis industry in the country.
“The response we received from our investor partners was profoundly encouraging. The combination of monies raised and the rollup cements Acreage as one of the best capitalized companies in the industry with a footprint that is second to none,” said Kevin Murphy, founder and CEO of Acreage Holdings. “This gives us an exceptionally strong investment proposition to bring into the public markets in our upcoming listing.”
Although corporate America has been reluctant to commit to the sector due to the inconsistent legal status of marijuana across the country, the industry is increasingly being seen as a valid and growing investment opportunity.
In June 2016 Microsoft announced it had entered into a partnership with cannabis industry-focused company KIND Financial – a provider of “seed to sale” software services for the legal cannabis production industry. One month later, Jim Hagedorn, CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro, announced his company’s plans to invest $500 million in the legal marijuana space.
In October of last year alcohol giant Constellation Brands – the $42 billion name behind such consumer favorites as Corona and Modelo beers and Svedka vodka – agreed to acquire a 10 percent stake in Canada’s Canopy Growth Corporation, a leading provider of medical marijuana, for $191 million.
More recently, in April of this year, former House speaker John Boehner, who railed in Washington for years against legalizing marijuana, joined the Board of Acreage Holdings, tweeting at the time, “My thinking on cannabis has evolved…so we can do research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities.”
And only days ago, a subsidiary of UK-based big tobacco company Imperial Brands joined with Snoop Dogg’s investment fund Casa Verde to invest $10 million in medical marijuana research company, Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies.
Amid this positive momentum, Acreage plans to list on the CSE this fall.
“We are planning on listing on the CSE for many reasons, including the positive reception that the Canadian institutional investment community has shown to the U.S. cannabis industry and to Acreage in particular,” said Murphy. “Additionally, the CSE has become the exchange of choice for U.S. companies like ours. The liquidity on the CSE is incredibly attractive to Acreage, and we know that retail investors in the U.S. have become comfortable with that exchange. We expect to see a tremendous response to our offering this fall.”
-Lynda Kiernan
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