Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) is buying 365 Cannabis, a cannabis business management software system built on Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Business Central in a $17 million deal at 2.1x LTM revenue. The deal will be paid with $4 million in cash and $13 million in stock with a potential earnout of $8 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.
“By adding 365 Cannabis into our Akerna ecosystem, we will continue to create new standards and best practices around compliance in every state, province, and country across the globe, standardize how the global supply chain is managed, and forge best practices in technology and hosting,” says Jessica Billingsley, Chief Executive Officer of Akerna. “The synergies between our two companies’ products and offerings will finally create all in one for the entire cannabis industry, on a global scale.”
365 Cannabis’ 85+ clients will gain access to Akerna’s Compliance Gateway, feature-rich reporting, MJ Retail POS, and the recently launched Akerna Connect. Cannabis 365 clients include Pharmacann, Nectar, Revolution, Sundial, Kiaro, and many others.
“As we combine our leading solutions built specifically for the ever-evolving cannabis industry, along with Akerna’s 80+ integrations through open APIs, we can now offer cannabis operators a full suite of products to optimize their businesses, improve overall functionality, and ultimately increase sales,” says Jeff Kiehn, Chief Executive Officer of 365 Cannabis. “With the combined team of over 200+ skilled employees including 30 + years of consulting experience, coupled with an unrivaled true ERP system and supporting technologies, our goal is to modernize and propel the cannabis industry throughout this rapid growth period and beyond.”
The two companies said in a statement that the acquisition will allow Akerna to deliver the broadest portfolio of ERP solutions for cannabis operators, covering access to a majority of the mainstream mid-market financial and tax planning market. It will offer cannabis operators a financial and tax planning system for each stage of their growth while realizing combined scaled synergies by maintaining regulatory compliance every step of the way through Akerna’s Compliance Gateway.