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Trulieve is buying Harvest Health & Recreation in a $2.1 billion deal.
Cannabis investors say the deal will put pressure on rival companies to pursue big-ticket M&A.
These companies include Curaleaf, Green Thumb Industries, and Cresco Labs.
The largest US cannabis companies should be feeling pressure to pursue big-ticket mergers after Trulieve s blockbuster bid to buy Harvest Health & Recreation, top investors in the industry told Insider.
Investors expect Trulieve s rivals like Curaleaf, Green Thumb Industries, and Cresco Labs to continue expanding through acquisitions as they jockey to dominate a rapidly expanding legal-marijuana map in the US.
These deals could come in states that have recently legalized cannabis, like Arizona, or states like Pennsylvania and Connecticut that are expected to do so in the near future, investors said.
Exclusive: Allbirds is interviewing banks for an I.P.O.
Silicon Valley’s favorite shoe brand is headed to Wall Street. Allbirds is interviewing banks over the next few weeks to help it make a market debut, DealBook hears. The direct-to-consumer company was last valued at around $1.7 billion.
“It’s the materials.” Allbirds was founded by the New Zealand soccer star Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger, a renewables expert. Its mantra is to “create better things in a better way,” and the company advertises that the merino wool in its shoes uses 60 percent less energy than typical synthetic materials. “One of the worst offenders of the environment from a consumer product standpoint is shoes,” Zwillinger told The Times in 2017. “It’s not the making; it’s the materials.” The brand’s flashy-but-logo-free shoes are popular among techies, celebrities (Leonardo DiCaprio is an investor) and Barack Obama. The company has raised more than $200 million since 2016.
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The cannabis sector continues to demonstrate favorable tailwinds while indicating that there is still significant upside to come. Strong market performance – the Prime Alternative Harvest Index is up 46% year-to-date – is sure to pique the interest of investors.
Before investing in marijuana stocks, however, individuals need to be aware of the red flags that face the industry and the companies therein.
While unique in its federal legal standing, investing in cannabis is similar to any other industry. The principles of conducting sound due diligence remain in effect. In fact, due diligence is much more critical in this nascent space because of the immense regulations the market faces, as well as the many changes under way in this rapidly shifting industry.