Top cannabis site Leafly in talks to go public via blank-check merger - sources

WM Technology

06/08/2021 21:30

By Shariq Khan
    Aug 6 (Reuters) - Top cannabis-focused website Leafly is in
talks to merge with blank-check company Merida Merger Corp I in
a deal that would value the combined company at more than $530
million, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
    The blank-check firm is owned by Merida Capital Holdings,
one of the biggest backers of Leafly, whose site visits have
seen a meteoric rise thanks to easing regulations in the United
States and rising weed use.
    A deal could be announced as soon as next week, the source
said, cautioning that talks could still fall apart.
    Following the merger, Merida will take at least one seat on
the combined company's board, while Leafly's team will continue
to be led by Chief Executive Yoko Miyashita, the sources said,
declining to be named as talks were still confidential.
    Leafly and Merida did not immediately respond to a comment.
    The company plans use the proceeds from the deal partly to
invest more into its east coast business, the sources said.
    Founded in 2010, Leafly was owned by cannabis-focused
private equity group Privateer Holdings between 2012 and 2019. 
    The company offers consumers ways to find weed stores to buy
the cannabis strains they want, runs a pickup and delivery
service and posts reviews on different cannabis products.
    More than half of all North American cannabis dispensaries
use Leafly's platform for e-commerce, advertising and other
services.
    Prospects of federal legalization and pandemic-led lockdowns
have pushed up Leafly's site visits to more than 220 million
last year, up 12% from 2019, making it the world's most visited
website on weeds.
   
    The deal, if completed, would be the latest in a nascent
sector that has caught the blank-check frenzy. Rival Weedmaps'
parent company struck a blank-check deal in December to list on
the Nasdaq.
    Leafly intends to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol
'LFLY', one of the people said.
    Blank-check firms are publicly traded companies that use the
funds from their initial public offerings to buy private firms,
taking them public in the process.
    Billionaire William "Beau" Wrigley Jr's Parallel and Jay-Z
backed Californian pot producer TPCO Holdings have also struck
similar deals to list their shares.

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Cannabis website Leafly to raise $30 mln in fresh funding   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2NY3QP
From gum to gummies, Beau Wrigley takes pot producer Parallel
public     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KS3MV
Marijuana Legalization by State    https://tmsnrt.rs/3fDoD36
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sweta Singh
and Arun Koyyur)
 ((Shariq.Khan@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @shariqrtrs;))