Canadian Cannabis IPOs Raise Over C$490 Million in 2018

A new report from PwC Canada shows cannabis initial public offerings (IPOs) raised over C$491 million across “various exchanges” throughout 2018.

On Thursday (January 3), the research agency shared the results of its quarterly IPO survey indicating the total state of the public markets in Canada.

“The fourth quarter was pretty respectable when you consider the market volatility in December,” Dean Braunsteiner, national IPO leader at PwC Canada said.

Despite the sums the cannabis market attracted, no marijuana IPOs were found in the top of money raised during 2018, according to the survey.

PwC indicated the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) enjoyed a busy year thanks to the cannabis and junior mining sectors.

The survey from the research agency does not factor in reverse takeovers, a popular method of listing for CSE issuers in the cannabis space.

Richard Carleton, CEO of the CSE,  previously told the Investing News Network (INN) in October the exchange was closing in on over 140 applications to list, and with approximately 60 percent of those being cannabis companies.

The CSE has seen a rise in its cannabis listings thanks to its status as the only place for US marijuana ventures to list in Canada.

Due to the federal illegality of cannabis in the US, the TMX Group exchanges have mandated its listings to have no direct marijuana assets in the US.

Meanwhile, the CSE elected to not block these listings allowing companies in the cannabis space to seek listings.

While the CSE is seen as an exchange for junior or venture companies in the early growth stages, large US cannabis ventures such as Acreage Holdings (CSE:ACRG), Charlotte’s Web (CSE:CWEB) and iAnthus Capital Holdings (CSE:IAN) are all publicly traded on the Canadian exchange.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bryan Mc Govern, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.