The bad news just keeps coming for CannTrust. This week the company said that Ontario informed them that some of its products are “non-conforming” under the Master Cannabis Supply Agreement. It has opted to return the product valued at C$2.9 million. CannTrust did note that Health Canada has not ordered a recall of its products.
GrowHealthy plans to open its sixth store in the state on August 5, which will serve the Miami-Dade County population of approximately 2.7 million. The 4,000 square foot store will be located at 13400 Biscayne Blvd, North Miami, FL 33181. The Grand Opening celebration is planned for August 9-11 and details will be posted at www.growhealthy.com.
Beth Stavola had retired from Wall Street to focus on raising her six children in 2012 when she got an offer to invest $1 million in an Arizona marijuana business.
It was a lot of money. It was in an industry that was still illegal in most of the country. But what really concerned her was ... what would she tell her parents?
Stavola is staying on at iAnthus. She and her co-workers are now part of an organization that’s among about a half-dozen contestants racing to establish multistate marijuana chains, hoping for a chunk of what some claim could be more than $50 billion in annual sales of legal cannabis products. How long that takes and what it ultimately will look like are among the questions the young, fragmented marketplace must answer.
What many of you don’t know is the extraordinary story of how merging with MPX became an attractive opportunity for iAnthus and that one of the most prized assets that came with the US holdings in the deal was investment bank executive, MPX’s former COO and second largest shareholder, New Jersey native, and new iAnthus board director, Beth Stavola. When asked for comment about Stavola, Hadley Ford CEO of iAnthus said, “Beth Stavola is one of the pioneers in the industry. What she has been able to do in building MPX while raising six kids is the stuff of legends.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his plan to legalize adult use cannabis in 100 days. The governor did not provide a lot of details but suggested it would continue to be a restrictive program.
Of course, New Jersey also said it would legalize adult use cannabis but then found it has taken much longer to make adjustments to the rules and regulations of a conservative medical cannabis program. Cuomo did note that consumers would need to be over the age of 21 and he was very supportive of towns cities having the ability to opt out of allowing cannabis businesses.
The end of 2018 set the stage for more consolidation. Larger, more well-financed players were able to acquire smaller companies as the land grab frenzy heats up. Key end of year consolidations included MedMen's (MMNFF) acquisition of Pharmacann and the combination of iAnthus (ITHUF) and MPX Bioceuticals (MPXEF) . The latest announcement between Green Growth Brands and Aphria (APHA) has generated a heated discussion as to whether the proposed hostile bid is serious.
Looking to invest in publicly traded cannabis stocks? There’s good news and bad news.
Multistate marijuana firm iAnthus Capital agreed to acquire the U.S. assets of Toronto-based cannabis company MPX Bioceutical Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at 835 million Canadian dollars ($640 million), the second mega-acquisition in the American MJ industry in less than a week.
The acquisition positions New York-based iAnthus as one the largest U.S. cannabis operators and expands the firm’s footprint to 10 states, nearly doubling its reach.
You might have thought that 2018 would have been a fantastic year for most marijuana stocks. Canada is on course to open its big recreational marijuana market in October. Global demand for medical marijuana is increasing. But the reality is that most marijuana stocks aren't performing nearly as well so far this year as they did at this point in 2017.