22 November 2016
Here’s part of the MJ Biz story.. read the rest here
Earlier this month the Seattle firm – which owns three companies – completed a $40 million round of fundraising. It’s the first marijuana-centric investment company to raise more than $100 million, a sign that deep-pocketed investors increasingly are warming up to the cannabis industry as more states legalize recreational and medical MJ.
Kennedy said Privateer will spend its $120 million-plus over the next 12 to 18 months, and half or more will be deployed outside the United States.
“Our investment thesis is all around brands,” Kennedy told Marijuana Business Daily earlier this month. “We’re looking at new global cannabis brands that target different consumer and patient demographics. We also look to expand our existing brands and new acquisitions into Canada and Europe.”
Privateer’s current holdings include:
- Leafly, an online strain and dispensary guide that receives more than 10 million visitors per month.
- Tilray, a federally licensed Canadian medical cannabis producer that has been positioning itself as an overseas exporter of medical marijuana.
- Marley Natural, a marijuana brand currently sold in stores in California and Oregon and will be available next month in Washington State.
Focus on exports
This past year, Tilray became the first company to export cannabis from North America – from its grow site in Vancouver to Croatia – and Kennedy hopes to build on that with exports to Australia, Germany and other European Union countries.
“Exports are an important focus for us, and we’ll continue to export product from Canada to other countries around the world,” Kennedy said.
An export strategy will require patience but will be worthwhile if it can be pulled off, said Morgan Paxhia, a managing director with Poseidon Asset Management, a marijuana-focused investment firm in San Francisco.
“These are small markets, so it’s more laying the groundwork for the bigger picture in the longer term,” Paxhia said. “It’s not as much a near-term return on investment as it is a long term.”
Privateer also is working hard to set up roots in Germany. The country recently set up a very limited medical marijuana program serving fewer than 1,000 patients but hopes to propose a more expansive program in 2017.
Kennedy and his Tilray colleagues have flown to Germany several times in the past year. Kennedy said it still isn’t clear whether Privateer will acquire or partner with a local German company, or start its own venture from scratch, as it did with Tilray.
“We have our own people there,” Kennedy said, adding that “It’s a very nascent market and we’ll see what happens over the next few months as Germany moves toward legalization.”
Full report at http://mjbizdaily.com/flush-with-fresh-funding-privateer-looks-to-expand-overseas-footprint/
