US Cannabis Deals Don’t Need Federal Legalization to Move Forward

Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX:WEED,NYSE:CGC) Founder, Chairman and co-CEO Bruce Linton was featured in an interview with BNN Bloomberg where he discussed the company’s US$3.4-billion deal to acquire Acreage Holdings, Inc. (CSE:ACGR.U,OTC:ACRGF,FWB:0ZV), a vertically-integrated US cannabis company with operations in 19 states. Under the terms of the acquisition, Canopy Growth retains the right to acquire Acreage once cannabis production and sale becomes federally legal in the US. The two companies will also be executing a license agreement that will allow Acreage to access Canopy Growth’s award-winning brands such as Tweed and Tokyo Smoke, along with other intellectual property.

According to Linton, Canopy Growth has been working on this deal with Acreage since November 2018. He believes that the agreement will provide tremendous value to shareholders once the companies combine their businesses, sharing intellectual property and trade secrets.

Linton also believes that their deal with Acreage is easily replicable for other cannabis and biopharma companies. He pointed out that Canopy Growth was able to go after the company that it wanted because Acreage’s brands and assets complemented Canopy Growth’s existing portfolio. Linton, however, believes that these types of deals will become more costly and involve more players as Canadian companies attempt to enter the US cannabis market.

To listen to the full interview, click here.

Click here to connect with Acreage Holdings for an Investor Presentation.