Acreage Holdings

Acreage Holdings (formerly known as High Street Capital Partners) is a public company domiciled in British Columbia, Canada, holding a portfolio of cannabis cultivation, processing and dispensing operations in the United States.[1]

Acreage Holdings
TypePublic
CSE: ACRG.U
IndustryCannabis, Medical marijuana
Founded2011 (2011) in Maine
Headquarters
New York, NY
,
United States
Websiteacreageholdings.com

History

Acreage Holdings was founded in Maine in 2011.[1]

Ownership

Members of Acreage Holdings' Board of Directors include former Republican Congressman and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner,[2] former libertarian Republican Governor of Massachusetts Bill Weld, former IBM Chief Financial Officer Douglas Maine, and former Conservative Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney.[3][4]

Although several of the board members have stated that they joined the board because of the medical uses for cannabis (Boehner specifically cited the potential of medical marijuana to limit the opioid epidemic,)[5] the company is investing in operations serving recreational as well as medical use of cannabis. In late 2018, Acreage Holdings acquired Michigan-based Blue Tire Holdings LLC.[6] Acreage CEO Kevin Murphy expects additional American states to transition from medical use only to medical and recreational use. Murphy stated in a Bloomberg interview that the November 2018 U.S. mid-term elections were very helpful to the industry, both because of the people who were elected to office and because some incumbent opponents of marijuana legislation were voted out.[7]

Holdings

An April 2019 report by Bloomberg stated that:[8]

Acreage went public on the Canadian Securities Exchange in November and is now among the largest U.S.-based pot firms. Acreage has cultivation, processing and dispensing licences or agreements with holders in 19 states. It also manages a chain of retail stores called The Botanist.

Acreage holdings entered the Massachusetts market by creating controlled companies to in effect hold and operate more than the 3 license limit. Then acted to create a regional noncompete monopoly with the companies Seahunter and American.[9]

In the same month, Canopy Growth, a firm with headquarters in Smiths Falls, Ontario and the largest cannabis company in the world,[8] concluded an agreement with Acreage to buy 100% of the latter's shares for US$3.4 billion. The sale would be concluded in future, and only if the American federal government legalizes cannabis. In the meantime, Canopy would pay US$300 million to seal the deal. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Vivien Azer, senior research analyst with Cowen, said that Acreage was a suitable acquisition target because it had the greatest market penetration in the U.S. and believed that the deal would "likely prove helpful in pushing for a change in U.S. laws surrounding cannabis".[10]

References
  1. "The Acreage story". Acreage Holdings. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  2. Gurdus, Elizabeth (2018-12-20). "CEO of Boehner-backed cannabis company sees bill paving way for legalization being passed in 2019: Acreage Holdings CEO: States Act could be passed as soon as 2019". www.cnbc.com. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  3. Edgecliffe-Johnson, Andrew (October 16, 2018). "Former Canadian leader joins US cannabis group as rules shift". Financial Times. Retrieved December 28, 2018. Mr Mulroney ... told the Financial Times he had been encouraged to [join the board] by Acreage directors John Boehner, the former speaker of the US House of Representatives, and William Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts.
  4. "Former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney To Join Acreage Holdings' Public Board of Directors". Acreage Holdings. October 17, 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  5. "Marijuana Stocks Spike After Ex-House Speaker John Boehner Joins Cannabis Company Board". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  6. "Boehner-backed Acreage Holdings acquires Michigan cannabis company". Detroit News. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  7. "Acreage Holdings Aims to Be Dominant Cannabis Player in U.S., CEO Says (Video)". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  8. "Canopy Growth Is Near a Deal to Acquire Acreage Holdings". Bloomberg. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019. Those shares can’t be transferred or monetized and aren’t entitled to voting rights or dividends, but can be converted into common shares if U.S. federal law changes.
  9. Healy, Beth. "You can't own more than 3 pot shops--But these companies test the limit". Boston Globe.
  10. "Canopy signs US$3.4B deal to buy N.Y.-based Acreage Holdings if pot legal in U.S." Financial Post. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019. if cannabis production and sale becomes federally legal in the United States — which they anticipate could happen within the next year.
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