Cannabis accessories e-commerce company Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNLN)  reported financial results and announced a merger with KushCo sending the stock higher in early trading. Greenlane stock was up over 17% on news of the merger as the company missed revenue estimates for the fourth-quarter ending in December.

Net sales grew approximately 50.5% to $7.8 million, or 21.4% of total net sales in the fourth quarter versus $5.2 million or 13.8% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2019. Core revenue grew 11.3% to $33.9 million in the quarter versus $30.5 million for the same time period in 2019. Greenlane missed the average analyst estimate which was for revenue of $36 million according to Yahoo Finance. Core revenue is defined as all non-nicotine revenue and Greenlane Brand revenue is inclusive of Eyce figures. The net loss for the quarter grew 8.9% to $10.8 million.

For the full year, total revenue was $138.3 million versus $185.0 million for the fiscal year 2019. The full-year 2020 core revenue (defined as non-nicotine revenue) grew 12.7% to $125.2 million versus $111.1 million in 2019. The net loss grew 19.8% to $47.7 million over last year’s net loss of $39.8 million. The decrease in sales was driven by a strategic decision to move away from sales of higher volume, lower margin merchandise to higher-margin revenue opportunities, including the Greenlane branded products.

“Though this year has been very challenging, I am incredibly proud of how the Greenlane team has aligned to accomplish all we have achieved in 2020,” said Aaron LoCascio, Greenlane’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Together, we successfully refocused our strategic efforts to grow our portfolio of owned brands, brought in new senior leaders, and took decisive steps to move away from lower-margin revenue categories that has positioned us for sustained, long term growth.”

Mr. LoCascio added, “As we enter 2021, Greenlane will continue to innovate and adapt to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving Cannabis industry by executing on our growth strategy. This includes continuing to improve our revenue mix with a focus on Greenlane branded products, further optimizing our organizational structure to reduce costs where appropriate and leveraging our best-in-class global distribution platform to launch innovative new products into the market. We have made great progress thus far, and recently announced our acquisition of the Eyce, the world leader in premium silicone smoking products and a Greenlane partner for over seven years.”

KushCo Merger

Along with the announcement of earnings, Greenlane also said it was merging with cannabis packaging company KushCo (OTC: KSHB). The exchange ratio is expected to result in KushCo stockholders owning approximately 49.9% of the combined company’s common stock and Greenlane stockholders owning approximately 50.1% of the combined company’s common stock. The company said the deal is expected to generate approximately $15 million to $20 million of annual run-rate cost synergies within 24 months from the closing.

KushCo’s Co-Founder, current Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Nick Kovacevich, will lead the combined company as Chief Executive Officer, and an Independent Chairman of the Board will be appointed at a later date. Greenlane’s Bill Mote will serve as Chief Financial Officer, with Greenlane Co-founder Aaron LoCascio serving as President and Greenlane Co-founder Adam Schoenfeld serving as Chief Strategy Officer. The combined company will be headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with a significant footprint in Southern California.

“This transformative transaction is expected to create a broad and complementary platform that we expect to deliver substantial synergies at an important inflection point in the cannabis industry,” said Aaron LoCascio, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Greenlane. “As an industry leader, the combined company will be well positioned to grow profitability and maximize value for all stockholders while also providing enhanced product offerings and expanded ancillary services to our valued customer bases. We are thrilled to be working with the talented and experienced KushCo team, and together we will continue to drive innovation and excellence in the space. Since Greenlane’s founding in 2005, we have been at the forefront of the cannabis industry, and today we take the next step in our continued evolution.”

“We’re excited to create a leading, innovative supplier of cannabis ancillary products serving the most valuable segments of the supply chain,” said Nick Kovacevich, KushCo’s Co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer. “For more than 10 years, KushCo has proudly pioneered this industry, creating substantial value for our customers, employees, partners, and stockholders. Now, we have reached a critical time in our industry where the leading operators are increasingly looking to partner with companies in the ancillary space who can reliably support their rapid expansion for years to come. We greatly admire the product portfolio that the Greenlane team has built, and we are excited to work with them to cross-sell to our complementary customer bases and execute on the attractive growth opportunities ahead.”