August 2018

dispensaries to list locations on MassRoots’ dispensary finder, update key information in real time and view analyt- ics about their local cannabis market. Subscriptions to MassRoots’ business portal start at $420 per month per dispensary with a 12-month minimum contract. Infused Beverages Cannabiniers , a food-service, extraction, technology and brand- management company in San Diego, has added two businesses to its portfolio of infused beverage com- panies: Two Roots Brewing , maker of nonalcoholic THC- and CBD- infused craft beer, and Just Society , a line of THC- and CBD-infused, cold-brewed iced coffees and teas. MJ Marketing Agency Wins Awards Cohnnabis , the cannabis-focused division of Denver- based marketing and brand agency Cohn Marketing, received several awards. Cohnnabis won a Business Marketing Association Gold Key award and a Hermes Gold award for the design and launch of a new corporate website for Surna , a cultivation technology firm. Cohnnabis also won a BMA Silver Key for its brand campaign for Surna, plus a BMA Silver Key for its work on the corporate website of Canna Advisors , a consulting firm. The Hermes Creative Awards honored Cohnnabis with a Platinum award for the agency’s website, cohnnabis.com. CANADIAN DEVELOPMENTS If They Can Make It There … Canopy Growth , Canada’s biggest marijuana company, became the first cannabis business to list on the New York Stock Exchange when it debuted on the NYSE big board with the ticker symbol CGC. Canopy opened with a price of $30.85. Canopy also trades on the TSX under the symbol WEED. Canopy also entered into a multiyear agreement with Laval, Quebec-based Neptune Technologies & Biore- sources , which will supplement Canopy’s extraction, refine- ment and extract product formulation capacity. Tilray Readies for IPO Tilray , the British Columbia can- nabis company owned by Seat- tle private equity firm Privateer Holdings , filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. The vertically integrated grow, processing and distribution company intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol TLRY. The number of shares to be offered and the price had not been determined as of press time. Sandoz Canada , a subsidiary of pharmaceuti- cal giant Novartis, finalized an agreement with Tilray to put the Sandoz brand name on eight noncombustible cannabis products already sold under the country’s medical mari- juana mail-order system. Aurora Invests $5.3 Million in Grow Vancouver, British Columbia-based Aurora Cannabis invested $5.3 million (CA$7 million) in Choom Holdings , another Vancouver company that operates two businesses applying for medical cannabis cultivation licenses. The investment gives Aurora an 8% stake in Choom. Choom also has rights to 17 retail leases in Alberta, and applications to obtain cannabis retail licenses for the locations have been submitted. Choom has secured seven leases in British Columbia that it hopes to convert into dispensaries, and it also is looking to expand into Saskatchewan. Alcohol Distributor Signs Canadian Deal Great North Distributors , a wholly owned Canadian sub- sidiary of U.S.-based Southern Glazer’s, and Leamington, Ontario-based Aphria, signed an agreement in which Great North will serve as exclusive manufacturer’s representative for Aphria’s adult-use cannabis products in Canada. Cronos Group Hires IR Firm Cronos Group in Ontario has entered into an agreement to retain Athena Advisors in New York City as its investor-relations agency. Athena was founded by Anna Shlimak, a New York Stock Exchange communications veteran who most recently headed inves- tor relations at Quest Partners, an alternative investment firm with more than $1.5 billion in assets. Cronos Australia Wins License Cronos Australia , a subsidiary of Toronto-based Cronos Group, has been granted a medicinal cannabis manu- facturer license by the Australian Office of Drug Control. This license permits manufacturing of cannabinoid-based products in Australia and is required for all forms of extraction, refining, concentration and transformation of the cannabis plant. ◆ Have a company announcement you want us to consider? Send a news release or general information to OmarS@MJBizDaily.com . (Note: We’re looking for news about expansions, financing, deals, partnerships and similar developments, not product-related announcements.) 112 • Marijuana Business Magazine • August 2018