Grow Life 420

UFCW 1518 crossed a new milestone today as workers at Potanicals Green Growers joined the union and ratified their first collective agreement. Following a unanimous vote to ratify the new contract, Potanicals has become the first cannabis growing operation and extraction facility to unionize in Canada.

Workers at the medical cannabis growing and processing facility reached out to the union last year to learn more about becoming part of the BC BUD division of UFCW 1518. The unit began negotiations for their new collective agreement in March.

“Our BC BUD division keeps growing because cannabis industry workers know their value and the power they can wield when they work together,” said UFCW 1518 President Kim Novak.

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

The weakest companies are succumbing and even relatively healthy firms are showing signs of strain.

The cannabis bankruptcy filings are starting to roll in.

Already plagued by a tough regulatory environment, disappointing sales and capital markets that had closed to all but the strongest companies, the industry is now facing a pandemic-related collapse in stock markets and ever-shrinking financing options. Pot companies completed two capital raises worth just US$5.6 million the week ended March 27, according to data from Viridian Capital Advisors. That’s the lowest level of activity this year and compares to 17 capital raises worth $169 million for the same period in 2019.

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

Oversupply means few companies are looking at making any purchases, even at these prices.

The pace of dealmaking in the already embattled cannabis sector is expected to slow even further, industry watchers say, as companies and investors retreat from risk amid recent turmoil in the equity markets.

“Obviously when you have this level of macro pullback, it always affects risky industries like cannabis the most,” said Aaron Salz, a principal at the boutique investment firm Stoic Advisory Inc.

“I’m seeing it in real time for sure. Groups that were prepared to jump in on deals have walked away for the time being. It’s risk-off right now.”

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

$3.77 million came from sales of vape products and an additional $569,000 came from edibles.

The Ontario Cannabis Store generated approximately $4.3 million in sales from cannabis 2.0 products last month, according to a statement issued by the provincial retailer Friday afternoon.

$3.77 million came from sales of vape products and an additional $569,000 was generated from sales of edibles for the month of January.

The figures included sales to retailers across the province and online sales through OCS.ca.

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

Progress on cannabis medical research has stalled in the U.S.

One of the top advocates for allowing U.S. companies to grow cannabis for research purposes has imported a batch from the Netherlands, saying he had no choice because of the lack of progress at home.

California-based Biopharmaceutical Research Co., founded by former Navy SEAL George Hodgin, legally imported a small quantity of marijuana from Bedrocan International last month to use for scientific analysis with the goal of better understanding the plant.

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

MKM Partners analyst says he expects $2-billion worth of writedowns.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. appears to have listed its greenhouse in Exeter, Ontario, for sale for $17 million, a move that one analyst said “implies massive writedowns” are coming.

A listing on Cushman & Wakefield’s website advertises a 22-acre greenhouse with a 15,000-square-foot propagation area on Exeter’s Airport Line, the same location as a greenhouse Aurora obtained as part of its $3.2 billion acquisition of MedReleaf Corp. in 2018.

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

Oversupply, declining prices, and a slow rollout of stores in Ontario has led to consecutive quarters of weak revenue for many licensed producers.

Cannabis industry insiders are bracing for a slew of bankruptcies in the coming year as small and medium-sized companies low on cash struggle to raise funds in the downtrodden sector.

“We have had a busy few years, but next year we’re going to be busy for a different reason — we expect a few million dollars in legal fees from insolvencies and consolidation,” said Ranjeev Dhillon, a partner at McCarthy Tetrault LLP and the firm’s cannabis group lead.

Dhillon says that his team is already seeing companies that are heading down that path.

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

The number of cannabis M&A deals in the four weeks ended Nov. 22 plunged to three — from 36 a year ago.

Dealmaking has gone quiet in the pot space as the slump in shares removes a vital currency and investors get picky.

Last week alone, Cresco Labs Inc. terminated its proposed acquisition of VidaCann Ltd., eliminating US$120 million in near-term cash requirements, and SOL Global Investments Corp. said it no longer intends to acquire MCP Wellness Inc., as “current market conditions do not support a transaction of this size.”

– Read the entire article at News.

Approximately $123 million in legal adult-use pot was sold across the country, down 2.4 per cent from $126 million in sales in August.

Legal recreational cannabis sales declined across the country in September, with New Brunswick charting one of the largest month-over-month drops, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada released Friday morning.

Approximately $123 million in legal adult-use cannabis was sold across Canada, down 2.4 per cent from $126 million in sales in August.

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

Producer notified Health Canada instantly, which was satisfied with its corrective actions.

Quebec licensed producer Hexo Corp. has admitted to growing cannabis in an unlicensed area of its Niagara facility — one that was acquired by the company from Newstrike Brands in May 2019.

According to a press release put out by the company Friday evening, a section of the UP Cannabis cultivation facility in Niagara, called Block B, which belonged to Newstrike, was not adequately licensed to grow cannabis but had been used to grow pot nonetheless.

Hexo said that on July 30, shortly after the acquisition closed, Hexo discovered the unlicensed growing and immediately ceased cultivation and production activities in the unlicensed space. The company said it notified Health Canada instantly and the department was satisfied with Hexo’s corrective actions.

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

Will use Four20’s expertise to help expand in other provinces.

Tilray Inc. is buying marijuana retailer 420 Investments Ltd. of Calgary for $110 million, the British Columbia-based cannabis researcher and distributor said.

The all-stock deal through a Tilray subsidiary, High Park Holdings Ltd., is expected to close early next year, according to a statement by Tilray. The first $70 million in stock is payable on the close of the deal with the remaining $40 million subject to performance milestones.

“Four20 offers a premium retail experience for the mainstream cannabis consumer and builds on our broader retail strategy, which includes several minority investments in other leading cannabis retailers,” Tilray chief corporate development officer Andrew Pucher said in the statement. The company is “preparing for the next wave of legalized product launches taking place by year’s end.”

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

Tilray, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLRY), a global pioneer in cannabis research, cultivation, production and distribution, today announced it has entered into an agreement with Cannamedical Pharma GmbH (“Cannamedical”) through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tilray Portugal Unipessoal Lda. (“Tilray Portugal”), to export a wholesale shipment of $3.3 (€3) million worth of medical cannabis from Portugal to Germany. The shipment, which is expected to be completed in fall 2019, will be Tilray’s first from its state-of-the-art EU campus in Portugal to supply patients in Germany.

“This is a significant milestone for Tilray as we ramp up our capacity to serve international markets and generate revenue from our EU campus through the end of 2019,” says Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy. “We believe our 2.5 million square feet of cultivation and state-of-the-art processing space in Europe is an important differentiator, which will enable us to reduce costs and improve margins while hedging against regulatory risk.”

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

Growing outdoors can cost as little as one-fifth that of greenhouse production and one exec says it makes for ‘tastier’ buds.

Despite a cool, wet start to the growing season, the pot plants were already chest high by mid-July at WeedMD Inc.’s farm in southwestern Ontario, a region better known for producing fruit and corn than cannabis.

WeedMD is one of 13 Canadian pot companies that have been granted outdoor cultivation licenses in an industry that predominantly grows in greenhouses or warehouses. It has planted 21,000 plants on 27 acres that formerly grew asparagus, and expects to harvest more than 25,000 kilograms (55,000 pounds) of dried pot from its outdoor operations this year, more than half its total production.

The amount of outdoor-grown cannabis will make up a small portion of the market this year — less than 10 per cent of the cultivation licenses granted in Canada are for outdoors — but many more are in the pipeline after the Canadian government changed its rules last year to allow pot farms.

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

As Washington takes on the politics of cannabis, issues on both sides of the border are weighing on company shares.

Suddenly, the U.S. Senate is willing to talk about pot.

Rather unexpectedly, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will hold a hearing on cannabis banking Tuesday. This marks the first time the Republican-controlled Senate has agreed to examine the so-called SAFE Act, which would allow banks to offer services to pot companies in compliance with state law.

“On the legislative front, it is evident that the politics of cannabis is undergoing a transformation that is almost unparalleled in Washington,” Cowen & Co. analyst Jaret Seiberg said in a policy outlook call with reporters last week. “This has gone from an issue that Capitol Hill did not take seriously to one that is driving legislation and elections, and this all happened in the last two years.”

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.

Opinion: There is still time for Canadian governments to serve the public by copying the market for alcoholic beverages.

When Bill C-45 was passed in 2017, making the sale and recreational consumption of cannabis legal, politicians proudly announced that Canada’s legalization of cannabis and the regulations around its sales and production would provide a guide to the world on how to legalize.

However, 19 months after the bill passed, and nearly eight months after legalization took effect on Oct. 17, 2018, provinces have failed to licence enough retail stores and suppliers to meet the demand of consumers. As a result, unlicenced retail stores and black-market dealers continue to operate. Supplies come from unlicenced growers, some of which may have links to criminals and organized crime.

– Read the entire article at Financial Post.