CGC slides in with three major announcements this week
Welcome back to our weekly series, Schaeffer's Cannabis Stock News Update, where we recap what happened in the world of marijuana stocks this past week and look ahead at the pot stocks to watch as the year closes out.
Investor interest in the cannabis industry continues to grow, and the leading players continue to break through legal barrier after legal barrier. By the end of 2020, it's likely that more than 40 U.S. states will have legalized recreational and/or medical marijuana. As such, more and more companies are starting to see the opportunity in cannabis distribution, suggesting there are many more marijuana initial public offerings (IPOs) on the horizon for the marijuana stock industry.
Here is a quick roundup of a major cannabis stock news last week (Dec. 7 through Dec. 11):
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA), announced on Dec. 8 that it has achieved its targeted enrollment goal of 372 participants in Phase 3 ELEVATE UC 52 trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of once-daily etrasimod, a highly selective, once-daily, oral sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator, in participants with moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis.
Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE:CGC), announced on Dec. 9 that it plans to shut down operations across five of its Canadian operations on by Dec. 16, a move that would lay off approximately 220 workers and save up to $200 million annually. Canopy Growth said its indoor facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Alberta, and Bowmanville, Ont. will be closed, as well as its outdoor growing operations in Saskatchewan. The closures reflect about 17% of the company's indoor growing capacity in Canada, and all of its outdoor operations.
Canopy Growth and Arise Bioscience Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of TerrAscend Corp. engaged only in the legal sale of CBD products, announced on December 10 that they have entered into a loan financing arrangement for US$20 million under a secured debenture. In connection with the Loan, TerrAscend has issued 2.1 million common share purchase warrants to the Company.
Canopy Growth Corporation (NYSE:CGC) wasn't done though. They also announced on Dec. 8 that the Vitamin Shoppe is the first national retailer to carry the full line of Martha Stewart CBD wellness products – just in time for the busy, and often stressful, holiday season.
cbdMD, Inc. (NYSE:YCBD), announced on Dec. 8 that the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 2 million shares of its 8.0% Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock at a price to the public of $7.50 per share. cbdMD expects to receive gross proceeds of $15 million from the offering. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about Dec. 11, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The shares will be convertible into shares of cbdMD’s common stock at the holder’s option at a conversion price of $6.00 per share, or by cbdMD, at a conversion price of $6.00 per share if the trading price of its common stock equals or exceeds $8.25 per share for at least 20 trading days in any 30 consecutive trading day period ending five days before the date of notice of conversion. The shares will not be redeemable before October 2023, except upon the occurrence of a change of control.
Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN), a global house of brands and one of the largest sellers of premium cannabis accessories, announced on Dec. 10 that it has renewed its exclusive distribution partnership with PAX Labs, a leading consumer technology brand in cannabis. The agreement maintains Greenlane’s exclusive distribution of all PAX devices throughout the U.S.
Intec Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ:NTEC), announced on Dec. 9 that it has entered into a feasibility agreement with GW Research Limited, London, the U.K. to explore using the Accordion Pill platform for an undisclosed research program.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE:XXII), a leading plant-based, a biotechnology company that is focused on tobacco harm reduction, announced on December 8 that the FDA, in coordination with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and others, has submitted an order to 22nd Century for 3.6 million variable nicotine research cigarettes. The company’s cigarette research will continue to fuel numerous independent, scientific studies to validate the enormous public health benefits identified by the FDA and others of implementing a national standard requiring all cigarettes to contain minimally or non-addictive levels of nicotine.
WM Holding Company, a cannabis technology company which operates the online U.S. platform Weedmaps where users find and rate marijuana sellers, said on December 10 that it has agreed to go public through a merger with Silver Spike Acquisition Corp. The deal to take Weedmaps public, which values the company at around $1.5 billion, is a rare example of a business focused on the cannabis sector listing on a U.S. stock exchange.