AFP, Ottawa :
Canada’s Canopy Growth announced Thursday plans to purchase US pot grower and retailer Acreage in a US$3.4 billion deal that it says will make it the “undisputed leader” in the US cannabis market.
The takeover, however, hinges on cannabis production and sales becoming “federally permissible” in the United States, as well as shareholder and regulatory approvals, according to a release.
Recreational cannabis was legalized in Canada last October.
Canopy Growth chairman and co-chief executive Bruce Linton called the deal “a complex transaction with a simple objective … securing our entrance strategy into the United States as soon as a federally-permissible pathway exists.”
“Until then, the two companies will continue to operate independently,” a joint statement said.
The companies noted that the United States is currently the only “relevant market” where Canopy “does not yet have a major presence.”
Acreage operates in 20 US states, including 87 dispensaries and 22 cultivation and processing facilities.
A licensing agreement will give the New York-based company access to Canopy brands of pot such as Tweed and Tokyo Smoke, as well as well as “access to markets beyond the US.”
Canada’s Canopy Growth announced Thursday plans to purchase US pot grower and retailer Acreage in a US$3.4 billion deal that it says will make it the “undisputed leader” in the US cannabis market.
The takeover, however, hinges on cannabis production and sales becoming “federally permissible” in the United States, as well as shareholder and regulatory approvals, according to a release.
Recreational cannabis was legalized in Canada last October.
Canopy Growth chairman and co-chief executive Bruce Linton called the deal “a complex transaction with a simple objective … securing our entrance strategy into the United States as soon as a federally-permissible pathway exists.”
“Until then, the two companies will continue to operate independently,” a joint statement said.
The companies noted that the United States is currently the only “relevant market” where Canopy “does not yet have a major presence.”
Acreage operates in 20 US states, including 87 dispensaries and 22 cultivation and processing facilities.
A licensing agreement will give the New York-based company access to Canopy brands of pot such as Tweed and Tokyo Smoke, as well as well as “access to markets beyond the US.”
