Tilray reports Q4 with US$31M loss due to higher-than-expected costs

Tilray reported its fourth quarter results late Monday with a loss of US$31 million on revenue of US$15 million in the three months ended Dec. 31. Tilray’s operating loss for the quarter came in at US$22.9 million, up 780 per cent from the same period a year earlier. The company attributed its rising costs to "operating expenses related to growth initiatives, expansion of international teams and costs related to financings and M&A activities" during the quarter. The company's fourth-quarter, which includes the first two-and-a-half months of legal cannabis, Tilray sold more than 2,000 kilograms of marijuana. The Nanaimo, B.C.-based company sold its cannabis at US$7.52/gram, up US$7.13 from a year earlier..

Namaste looks to get its books in order before year-end report

Two weeks after PricewaterhouseCoopers resigned as its auditor, Namaste Technologies said Monday it has hired Baker Tilly to help the cannabis e-commerce company finalize its 2018 financial report. However, Namaste said its new auditor won't be able to complete its work for the annual results for the year ended Nov. 30 by the April 1 deadline. The company asked regulators to allow its shares to continue trading on public markets, but impose a management cease trade order on key officers, directors and other personnel. Earlier this month, former chief executive Sean Dollinger was fired by the company but returned back as an advisor after a settlement agreement.

Curaleaf expands in Nevada with US$70M cash-and-stock Acres acquisition

U.S. cannabis operator Curaleaf is doubling down on Nevada after announcing it acquired Acres Cannabis for US$70 million in a cash-and-stock deal. Curaleaf will acquire the state’s largest cultivation facility at 269,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor operating production as well as an extraction lab and cannabis dispensary located in Las Vegas. The company’s production facility is currently adding more capacity which, when complete, should generate 100,000 pounds of dry flower per year at full scale. The Acres acquisition will add to Curaleaf’s existing Nevada indoor grow production and add a flagship dispensary which is expected to open later this year. Eight Capital describes the deal as “positive” and says it will be a “key component to supporting Curaleaf’s operations in the state.”

Origin House-owned Trichome enters financing agreement to new Ontario pot shop licence holder

Trichome Financial, a subsidiary of cannabis conglomerate Origin House, will be providing financing to C.G.S. Foods, one of the winners of Ontario’s cannabis retail store licence lottery. Trichome entered into a two-year, $2 million financing arrangement with C.G.S., which plans to open a store in Brampton, Ont. under the Ganjika House moniker. The arrangement provides warrants for Trichome to acquire a minimum of 10.3 per cent and up to 13.3 per cent of the common shares of the pot retailer should the entire term loan be drawn. Trichome was recently provided with a $100 million war chest to enter the debt financing business for cannabis companies.

DAILY BUZZ

US$120 million
- How much Cresco Labs is paying to acquire Florida medical cannabis operator VidaCann which owns seven dispensaries and a fully-operational, greenhouse cultivation facility in  the state.

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