August 2018

COMPANY NEWS & Wheelin' DEAL¬N' By Omar Sacirbey U.S. DEVELOPMENTS MedMen Trading and Buying Los Angeles-based MedMen began trading May 29 on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker symbol MMEN. The firm also acquired Treadwell Simpson Part- nership , one of 13 licensed medical marijuana operators in Florida, for $53 million. The acquisition includes a 5-acre cultivation facility in Eustis, Florida, and the right to open 25 MMJ dispensaries in the state. Phyto Fund II Phyto Partners , a cannabis- focused venture capital fund in Boca Raton, Florida, closed its second fund, which raised $14 million from a group of limited partners. Phyto already has invested some of the capital in at least two of its portfolio companies: Marijuana Doctor , a physician network in Florida, and Flowhub , a Denver tech firm with seed-to-sale and com- pliance applications. Green Thumb’s Canadian IPO Green Thumb Industries , a multistate grow and dispensary chain based in Chicago, went public on the Canadian Securities Exchange in June after a reverse takeover of Canada- based shell company Bayswater Uranium. (See “Taking the Public Plunge,” Page 48.) Real Estate Firm Invests $18.5 Million in Massachusetts Innovative Industrial Properties , a San Diego real estate investment trust serving the medical marijuana industry, is spending $18.5 million to acquire a property it will lease out to a subsidiary of PharmaCann , an Illinois-based, multi- state medical cannabis cultivation and dispensary business. The lease is for 15 years, with options to extend, while the annual base rent is about $2.7 million. Florida MJ Firm Hits California Jacksonville, Florida-based mCig acquired a 2.5-acre property in California City, north of Los Angeles. The diversi- fied cannabis company will set up a 30,000-square-foot indoor marijuana cultivation operation, with the option to expand the facility to 50,000 square feet. The Florida company also will build an extraction and manufacturing facility measuring 2,000- 4,000 square feet, as well as a distribution center. Etain Heads West Etain Health , one of New York’s 10 licensed medical marijuana com- panies, is expanding into California, where it will start in the MMJ sector but eventually expand into the recreational market. To make the move, Etain is Recent deals, acquisitions and other announcements from North American cannabis companies ( ) 108 • Marijuana Business Magazine • August 2018