Curaleaf Bets Nearly $1 Billion on Weed Oil in U.S.
(Bloomberg) -- Curaleaf Holdings Inc., the most valuable U.S. marijuana company, is making a big bet on cannabis oil.
The Massachusetts-based company is buying the regulated cannabis business of Cura Partners Inc., a maker of oil for vape pens, in a stock deal valued at about $950 million. That makes it the largest acquisition so far between U.S. cannabis companies. Cura, based in Portland, Oregon, sells its Select brand marijuana products in more than 900 dispensaries, including in California, which is home to the world's largest legal weed market. It had revenue of about $117 million last year.
Acquiring Select gives Curaleaf a popular West Coast brand it can sell at its dispensaries around the U.S., according Boris Jordan, the company's chairman.
Curaleaf shares jumped in Toronto on May 1 after the news. The stock has more than doubled so far in 2019.
A wave of consolidation has hit the American pot industry in recent weeks, with large multistate operators gobbling up smaller companies as they race to build a national presence even as marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. Cresco Labs Inc. and Harvest Health & Recreation Inc., two Curaleaf competitors, each announced deals worth more than $800 million in the last two months.
Most recently, Acreage Holdings Inc., another of the most valuable U.S. weed companies, agreed to be acquired by Canada's Canopy Growth Corp. The $3.4 billion merger, which would give Canopy access to the lucrative U.S. weed market, is contingent on the federal government changing its marijuana rules.
Curaleaf, which has a market value north of $3 billion, has 44 dispensaries and operates in 12 states, including New York and Massachusetts. The company recently announced it would start selling products containing CBD, a non-intoxicating cannabis compound, at CVS. Cura Partners also has a line of CBD oil, which Curaleaf won't be acquiring.
Jordan rejected the idea that the company was under pressure to do a deal following the merger action by its competitors. He said he started talking to Cura Partners more than a year ago and was recently able to get it done.
“We've broken away from the rest of the industry with this,” he said.
--With assistance from Kristine Owram.
To contact the reporter on this story: Craig Giammona in New York at cgiammona@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Lisa Wolfson
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
