Cannabis Deal Tracker: Investment and M&A Activity in the Cannabis Industry December 21st - December 25th, 2020

December 30, 2020 (Investorideas.com Newswire) KEY INSIGHTS & TAKEAWAYS

CAPITAL RAISES

• Transactional Activity: Week 52 ended December 24th, 2020, saw a $104.0 million volume decrease with one less transaction vs. the prior week of this year and a $40.4 million decrease with two more transactions vs. the prior-year period. We tracked five capital raise transactions totaling $33.8 million, vs. three transactions totaling $74.2 million during the same week in 2019. The average tranche size was $6.8 million this week, vs. $24.7 million in the prior-year period. Last year's figures primarily reflected two debt financings: $42.7 million from Green Organic Duchman and $24.5 million from Jushi Holdings.
• Largest Cap Raise: On December 21st, 2020, Indus Holdings (CSE: INDS)(OTCQX: INDXF), a vertically integrated cannabis company that manufactures both in-house brands and agency brands for third parties, announced the closing of a C$34.5 million (US$26.8M) underwritten public offering of 23 million units at C$1.50 per unit (US$1.17). Proceeds will be used to develop an additional cultivation and production facility, working capital, and other corporate purposes. Each unit was composed of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant with a strike price of C$2.20 per share (US$1.71)(a premium of 71% to the closing price on the transaction date and 47% to the unit price) and a three-year maturity. We value the warrants at approximately US$0.05 per unit, giving a net share price of US$1.17 per share, a 17% premium to the actual closing price on the transaction date. The transaction was priced at a modest 7.67% discount to the company's share price at the announcement date despite the significant increase of 68.6% in total outstanding shares. The deal implies a US$77.4 million enterprise value, approximately .94X consensus 2021 revenues and 3.9X consensus 2021 EBITDA, significant discounts to the 3.3X 2021 revenues and 14.4X 2021 EBITDA we observe for the 17 U.S. Cultivation & Retail sector companies we track. Possible explanations include higher than expected damage to the company's California cultivation from the effects of wildfires and the continuing high debt to market cap level of 69%, despite the benefits of this significant equity raise. The transaction also improves Indus's liquidity, which was already reasonably good.
• Public vs. Private Cap Raises: All five of this week's capital raises were closed by public companies. So far in 2020, public companies have accounted for 81% of all capital raises, vs. 64% for the same period in 2019. In 2020, public companies have accounted for 81% of total dollars raised, vs. 69% for the same period in 2019.
• Public Company Listings: Of the five public company capital raises, all are listed in Canada (4 on the CSE and 1 on the TSX), and all six also trade on the OTC.
• Equity vs. Debt Cap Raises: Equity-based capital accounted for four of this week's six closed raises and 95% of raised proceeds.
• Largest Debt Raise: On December 23rd, Luff Enterprises Ltd (CSE: LUFF)(OTC: PGTMF), a CBD lifestyle company, announced the closing of a C$2.0 million (US$1.56 million), Secured Loan with a July 30th, 2021 maturity (extendible for an additional six months at the company's option) and a 12% rate. The loan is secured by the company's Nevada assets, which the company has for sale for $5.5 million, according to its September 2020 financial report. Proceeds will be used to support the expansion of sales and marketing efforts for the company's new CBD wellness products. The private investor group was given 12 million two-year warrants at a premium of approximately 66.7% to the closing price on the transaction date. The warrants add only about two bp to the transaction's effective cost due to the high premium and low warrant coverage (15%). More significant impacts come from the initial 3% fee and the subsequent 2% fee for the six-month extension, which we assume the company will take. The combination of fees and interest rate produces an effective cost of 16.89%, but the deal terms are advantageous. It provides a liquidity cushion for the working capital buildup for the company's new product launches with very low dilution, despite high market leverage (.68 debt to market cap proforma for the deal) and the fact that the company only recently exited from Canadian Bankruptcy (CCAA).
• Cap Raises by Sector: The five capital raises this week were spread across three different industry sectors: two in Cultivation & Retail, one in Infused Products & Extracts, and one in Biotech/Pharma.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

• Transactional Activity: Week 52 saw two completed M&A transactions, up from one in the prior-year period. The number of completed M&A transactions year-to-date is down 71% vs. the comparable period of 2019 but, as we pointed out in this week's Viridian Graph of the Week, the dollar volume of M&A is down only about 47% with large deals of over $250 million being the driver. We are now beginning to see the acceleration of deal activity that we have been forecasting.
• Largest M&A Transaction: On December 23rd, 2020, AYR Strategies (CSE: AYRA)(OTCQX: AYRWF), the 7th largest U.S. Cannabis company by market cap, closed on the acquisition of 100% of the membership interests of CannTech PA. The total consideration of US$57.4 million for the deal included US$27.2 million of cash, US$15.0 million of shares exchangeable into AYR subordinated voting shares, and US$15.2 million of seller notes. The acquisition includes a 143,000 sq. ft. cultivation and production facility on 13 acres, the first phase of which is complete and approved for cultivation. The purchase includes one opened and five planned dispensaries clustered in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas. All six dispensaries are expected to be opened by the end of 2021. AYR's second acquisition in the highly profitable Pennsylvania market solidifies its ability to become a leader in both the retail and wholesale segments of the market.
• Public vs. Private: This week's sole acquisition was made by a public company. Year-to-date, 92% of M&A transactions closed in 2020 have been made by public companies (up from 71% in 2019). Particularly with the recovery in stock prices and fundraising ability, public companies have been the dominant acquirers in the cannabis industry. Private companies remain the principal targets for acquirers.
• M&A by Sector: The two buyers in this week's transactions came from the Cultivation & Retail sector, as did both acquisition targets.

VIEW DEAL TRACKERS

The Viridian Cannabis Deal Tracker is a proprietary information service that monitors capital raise and M&Amp;Amp;A activity in the legal cannabis and hemp industry. Each week the Tracker aggregates and analyzed all closed deals and segments each according to key metrics:

• Industry Sector (one of 12 sectors, from Cultivation to Brands)
• Dollar value of the transaction
• Region in which the deal occurred (country or U.S. state)
• Status of the company announcing the transaction (Public vs. Private)
• Deal structure (equity vs. debt)
• Key deal terms

The Viridian Cannabis Deal Tracker provides the market intelligence that cannabis companies, investors, and acquirers utilize to make informed decisions regarding capital allocation and M&Amp;Amp;Amp;A strategy.

Since its inception in 2015, the Viridian Cannabis Deal Tracker has tracked and analyzed more than 2,500 capital raises and 1,000 M&Amp;Amp;Amp;A transactions totaling over $45 billion in aggregate value.

*Copyright © 2020 by Viridian Capital Advisors

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher. No part of this material may be (I) copied, photocopied, or duplicated in any form, by any means, or (II) redistributed without Viridian's prior written consent.

*Disclaimers

The information contained herein is for informational purposes and is not intended as a research report. It should not be construed as Viridian recommending investment in cannabis companies or as a solicitation to buy or sell any security or engage in a particular investment strategy. Investment in cannabis companies entails substantial risk. Before acting on any information, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and consult all available material, and, if necessary, seek professional advice.

Viridian Capital Advisors and its affiliates, as well as their respective partners, directors, shareholders, and employees, may have a position in the securities mentioned herein or may make purchases and/or sales from time to time. Viridian Capital Advisors, through broker-dealer services provided by Bradley Woods & Co. Ltd., (Member FINRA/SIPC), may act, or may have acted in the past, as a financial advisor to certain companies mentioned herein and may receive, or may have received, a remuneration for their services from those companies.

The above information whether in part or in its entirety neither constitutes an offer nor makes any recommendation to buy or sell any securities.

About Viridian Capital Advisors, LLC

Viridian Capital Advisors (www.viridianca.com) is a financial and strategic advisory firm dedicated to the cannabis market. We are a data- and market intelligence-driven firm that provides investment, M&Amp;Amp;A, corporate development, and investor relations services to emerging growth companies and qualified investors in the cannabis sector. Our banking practice, through broker-dealer Bradley Woods & Co. Ltd. (Member FINRA/SIPC), provides capital and M&Amp;Amp;A services to fund the growth of our clients, while our advisory practice helps to position and build their businesses. Our team's decades of high level operating and transactional experience on Wall Street in a variety of emerging sectors, allows Viridian to provide comprehensive strategic and financial solutions that assist cannabis enterprises in realizing their full potential.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law. The federal government does not recognize marijuana to have any medicinal value. Marijuana cultivation, possession, consumption, sales, and distribution are illegal under federal laws and also certain state laws. Investors in cannabis may be subject to law enforcement actions. Please note that there are differences in marijuana laws from one state, county, or city to another. Furthermore there are substantial risks associated with investing in cannabis companies, including, without limitation, changes in applicable laws, rules, and regulations, risks associated with the economic environment, the financing markets, and risks associated with a company's ability to execute on its business plan.

Contact Us:

Viridian Capital Advisors, LLC
contact@viridianca.com

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp

Buy a cannabis guest post on Investorideas.com