Benzinga Capital Conference: Cannabis - Spring 2024

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🌿 Industry

Germany's plan to legalize cannabis clears final parliamentary hurdle. Possession of limited amounts of marijuana to be decriminalized on April 1 — abc news

In a second step, “cannabis clubs” that will be allowed to grow the substance for members' personal use will be permitted to start work on July 1
However, the law stops short of establishing a regulated retail and distribution system for adult-use products, akin to U.S. states that have legalized adult-use
Medical cannabis will no longer be classified as a narcotic in Germany and will be treated as a standard prescription

NY Cannabis Control Board Waives Licensing Fees for Two Years, Approves 114 New Licenses. Brings Total Adult-Use Licenses to 223 This Year. — OCM

Of the 114 new licenses, 45 are retail dispensaries and 31 microbusiness licenses
The fee waiver applies to dispensaries transitioning to non-conditional license types, including cultivation licenses and microbusiness licenses Fees for conditional cultivator licensees range from $4,500 to up to $40,000 depending on the licensee tier and canopy size
Ahead of 3-year anniversary of legalization, NY now has 88 licensed dispensaries

Subversive Cannabis ETF (LGLZ) to Close. The Board of Trustees of the Tidal ETF Trust have decided to liquidate and close the Subversive Cannabis ETF (LGLZ) based on the recommendation of the Fund’s investment adviser, Tidal Investments LLC, and the Fund’s investment sub-adviser, Subversive Capital Advisor LLC.

💵 Deals

Curaleaf Acquires Northern Green Canada to Bolster European Flower Supply. Curaleaf has signed a deal to acquire Northern Green Canada (NGC), a vertically integrated Canadian licensed cannabis producer focused primarily on expanding in the international market through its EU-GMP certification. NGC also partners with Canadian GACP cultivators to produce and distribute finished cannabis products to both the domestic and global markets. NGC is one of the few Canadian cultivators with EU-GMP certification. As such, NGC has consistently supplied high THC, non-irradiated flower to the German market, which is expected to see exponential growth following the recent removal of cannabis from the narcotics list. NGC is also increasingly supplying Australia and New Zealand, the world's fastest-growing cannabis markets.

Standard Wellness acquires Cannabist pharmacy in Springville, Utah. With this acquisition, Standard Wellness is now vertically integrated in the state and will continue operating the pharmacy under the name, The Forest Springville. The pharmacy was acquired for a combination of cash and a seller note.

AFC Gamma Provides Sunburn Cannabis with a Total of $34.0M Across Senior Secured Credit Facilities. AFCG will hold the entire $34.0M across the two credit facilities, which together consist of a first-lien term loan secured by all assets of Sunburn. Sunburn intends to use the proceeds from the credit facilities to refinance existing debt, provide working capital, and build additional cultivation and processing facilities and new dispensaries.

The Cannabist Company closes $25.75M Private Placement Offering of 9% Senior Secured Convertible Debentures Due 2027. The company completed a private placement of $19.5M aggregate principal amount of 9.00% senior secured convertible debentures due 2027. In addition, in accordance with the terms of a previously executed agreement, as amended, the Company has issued $6.25M of Notes in exchange for the cancellation of previously issued 6% senior secured convertible notes due 2025 held by certain offshore institutional investors.

Ispire raises $12.3M in Public Offering. The company sold 2,050,000 shares of common stock at a price of $6.00/share for gross proceeds of $12,300,000.

Fika acquires six Prairie Records dispensaries from Decibel Cannabis for $2.2M. Three dispensaries are located in Alberta and another three are in Saskatchewan.

📄 Company Updates

Verano Launches Cabbage Club™, the Cannabis Industry’s First National Membership Model. Cabbage Club^™ members at all tier levels gain access to exclusive perks including monthly store credits and seasonal coupons, members-only merchandise, early access to new product drops, a dedicated Member Appreciation Day, and VIP access to additional events. Members also receive additional in-store and online perks including private concierge services, line-skipping privileges, and as a perfect cannabis complement, warm cookies at checkout to enjoy alongside their favorite products.

Body and Mind Q2 2024 Revenue of $4.4M (45.7% GM) vs. $4.4M (39.9% GM) in Q2 FY2023. Net Loss of ($0.2M), as compared to Net Loss of ($2.7M) in Q2 FY2023.

🏬 Retail

Recreational cannabis dispensary Joyleaf in Roselle Borough is co-owned by Jason Ackerman, the founder and former CEO of online grocery delivery service FreshDirect.

Joyleaf opened in December 2023 in Roselle, NJ. Founder Jason Ackerman previously was CEO at TerrAscend from November 2019 through March 2021. The new store is in a shopping plaza built at the former site of Economy Color Card Co. Inc., a color sample factory that Ackerman’s family operated for over 50 years. The 6,000 sq ft space has just under 2,000 sq ft dedicated to the sales floor. The remainder is split between the vault, dock, receiving room, office and reception area. Ackerman points out that the layout was designed to handle a large outbound delivery process (he is also the former CEO of FreshDirect) because Joyleaf does not plan to use any third-party services.

Louisiana’s 10th medical marijuana dispensary opens. The final medical marijuana operator allowed by law in Louisiana is open for business. Crescent City Therapeutics last week became the 10^th medical marijuana pharmacy, as dispensaries are called in Louisiana, to start serving MMJ patients.

Trulieve opens Dispensary in Cocoa Beach, FL.

Costa Mesa, CA looks to cap dispensaries at 35, 10 have been issued permits to open their storefronts, another 12 are approved and finishing the last steps for opening.

Pleasantrees opens 8,500 sq ft dispensary in Mount Clemens, MI.

🌱 Product

Jane Technologies Launches Rewards Program. Jane Gold makes getting cash back on cannabis purchases simple and personalized. By joining for free, consumers qualify to earn exclusive cash back from their favorite brands, discovering new and beloved products with a customized experience. Jane Gold enables consumers to quickly and securely link their bank accounts to receive cash-back rebates directly from the brands, without having to burden the dispensary. Due to current regulations, bank-to-bank (or ACH) transfers are the only legal way to complete cashless cannabis transactions in the industry today. Brands that participated in the beta launch saw an average increase of 7% in sales, with 60% of sales coming from first-time shoppers.

Sunderstorm Brand KANHA Expands to Illinois. KANHA, Sunderstorm's award-winning edibles brand officially enters the Midwest with its long-awaited retail debut in Illinois. KANHA launched with a new vape line, with gummies following soon. The entry means that KANHA is now available in dispensaries across five states and three countries. The vapes, which come in 0.5g cartridges, are precisely formulated with specific cannabinoid and terpene profiles for a consistent, elevated experience and superior flavor in the highest quality hardware on the market. The line launches with Tropical Trainwreck (Sativa), Raspberry Skywalker (Hybrid), Mango Haze (Sativa), OG Blackberry (Indica Hybrid), Creamsicle (Indica), and Blue Dream (Sativa Hybrid). KANHA will bring its full line of gummies to the Prairie State, including its FX and Nano series with the only proven fast-acting technology.

C3 Industries launches fast-acting cannabis-infused gummies by Galactic Cannabis in MA. Galactic Gummies will be available at High Profile x Budega dispensaries in Dorchester, Roslindale and Roxbury as well as partner dispensaries across the Commonwealth, promising to revolutionize the cannabis scene with their flavor-forward profiles, strong potency and affordable price point.

Dr. Norm’s launches Solventless Hash Peanut Butter Cup Brownie, containing single-source hash from Punch Extracts. The recipe is loaded with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and peanut butter cups.

TYSON 2.0 x Hudson Cannabis to launch in New York. "Mike Bites" contain 10mg of THC and 5mg of CBN per gummy.

Springbig launches new integration with Lightspeed to expand reach across cannabis and beyond. Springbig’s integration with Lightspeed includes a 2-way integration for loyalty and advanced text functions to better connect Lightspeed merchants with their customers in an automated fashion.

TILT Holdings Crowned a NECANN Cup Winner Third Year in a Row. Standard Farms won 1st place for best vape cartridge with the Mimosa Liquid Live Rosin “All-in-One” Vape using the Jupiter/CCELL Voca Pro hardware.

Organigram ‘assessing options’ after Jolts lozenge cannabis products classified as edibles rather than extracts. Cannabis products classified as an “extract” have 100 times more allowable THC per package than a product classified as an “edible.” Organigram has stopped the production of Jolts in its current format.

🧔 People

Fine Fettle names Judson Hill Georgia Market President. Fine Fettles holds one of six GA licenses and has a 50,000 sq ft cultivation in Macon, GA. Hill is from GA and will be responsible for lobbying, government affairs and starting the business in GA.

🎙️ Interviews

Boris Jordan on Curaleaf's European Strategy | The Dime

Conservative Cannabis: The Red Wave w/ Hirsh Jain | High Spirits

Canopy Growth sees opportunity in cannabis legalization in Germany | BNN

A data driven dive into New York | High Rise

TerrAscend Q4 2023 Earnings | Higher Exchanges

Highly Objective

🏪 NY Cannabis Control Board Approves 114 New…