Canopy names Constellation’s Klein as new CEO

Canopy Growth announced Monday Constellation Brands’ executive vice president and CFO, David Klein, will become its next chief executive officer, effective Jan. 14. The announcement comes more than a year after the alcohol giant closed a $5-billion investment to obtain a 37-per-cent stake in the Smiths Falls, Ont.-based pot producer. Canopy’s current CEO, Mark Zekulin, will step down Dec. 20.

Linton urges new Canopy CEO to resist quick fix

Bruce Linton, co-founder and former CEO of Canopy Growth, is urging the company’s incoming chief executive to focus on creating long-term growth opportunities instead of worrying about appeasing shareholders in the short-term. “If you get to the point where you give a dividend, you [may as well] say, ‘I’ve extinguished any imaginative thought.’ This is not a dividend sector,” Linton said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg’s Jon Erlichman on Monday.

More debt deals expected in cannabis sector

Debt capital is expected to become more widely available to cannabis companies, according to the chief executive officer of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., as bigger players, particularly in the U.S., start to turn a profit. “You’re definitely going to see debt capital flow into the sector,” Dan Daviau told Bloomberg News. “You’ll see several debt deals announced over the next week or so.” 

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40%

The jump in sales that dispensaries in California, Colorado, Nevada and Washington saw the day before U.S. Thanksgiving compared to the average for the previous four Wednesdays, according to cannabis analytics firm Headset Inc. 

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