Marijuana Business Magazine - May-June 2018

MONEY MATTERS ¬nvesting & Finance ¬nsight G lobal conquest was the original aim eight years ago, when Brendan Kennedy and his partners founded Privateer Holdings, a marijuana-focused private equity firm that today has interests on five continents. “The international opportunity has been part of our DNA since we started in this industry in 2010,” Kennedy said. Seattle-based Privateer, through its British Columbia- based cultivation company Tilray, is present in several countries outside the United States, including Canada, Ger- many, Portugal, Czech Republic, Croatia, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Brazil and Chile. More countries will join that list this year, Kennedy predicted. Privateer is focused on investment opportunities over- seas because “the pace of change … seems to be happen- ing at an even faster rate than inside the U.S,” according to Kennedy. Privateer and its portfolio companies have raised more than $250 million. The lion’s share has been invested inter- nationally. In January, the company completed a funding round that raised more than $100 million. Q&A with the CEO of Privateer Holdings Brendan Kennedy Q What’s your best international investment and why? A That would be Canada, over four years ago. That initial investment was part of the foundation that enabled us to build what we’ve built today. Q Why did Canada provide such a strong founda- tion for international investing? A We found the fact that the Canadian government intended to issue federal licenses significantly reduced uncertainty and risk compared to what you see in the United States. Q What’s the biggest international investment mis- take you’ve made and how did you fix it? A When we make mistakes, the mistakes tend to be around timing. It’s very difficult to predict in this indus- try when certain events, certain milestones from a regulatory perspective, are going to occur. I was in Germany almost two years ago, and it only took Germany a year to legalize. We were way early in 12 • Marijuana Business Magazine • May-June 2018