Cresco-Columbia $2 bln deal lights up pot takeover candidates - Viridian
23/03/2022 16:28
(Updates)
** Shares of smaller weed cos gain after Cresco Labs CL.CD
says it will buy rival Columbia Care CCHW.NLB in a $2 bln deal
to create the largest U.S. pot co by sales urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2VQ2DD
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2VQ36K
** CCHW gains 1.3%; CL down 6.1%
** Cannabis advisory firm Viridian Capital Advisors says the
deal is another in a string of consolidations in the U.S.
cannabis space
** Expects trend to pick up pace as larger cos buy out
smaller ones to attract institutional investments, especially as
the roadmap of a much-awaited cannabis banking legislation looks
unclear urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2MD38F
** Ascend AAWHu.CD , Ayr AYRa.CD , Terrascend TER.CD ,
Planet 13 PLTH.CD and Vext VEXT.CD up 1.6% to 3.9%
** Viridian sees these cos as potential takeover targets by
larger players due to their size and their positions in key U.S.
states
** Meanwhile, shares of Curaleaf CURA.CD and Trulieve
TRUL.CD , which have struck their own billion-dollar deals
previously, are down 2% to 2.6%
** Tilray TLRY.O rises 4.4%; among most active vols across
U.S. exchanges
** Cronos Group CRON.TO , Aurora Cannabis ACB.TO , Canopy
Growth CGC.O , Sundial Growers SNDL.O and Hexo HEXO.O rise
1% to 5.5%
** Pot stocks tracker MJ ETF MJ.N up 1.1%
(Reporting by Medha Singh and Ruhi Soni)
((medha.singh@thomsonreuters.com;
ruhi.soni@thomsonreuters.com))