Debra Borchardt
Cresco Labs Inc. (CSE: CL) (OTCQX: CRLBF) is acquiring CannaRoyalty Corp. also known as Origin House (CSE: OH) (OTCQX: ORHOF) in a deal valued at C$1.1 billion or C$12.68 per Origin House Share (based on the Exchange Ratio and the closing price of Cresco Labs Shares on March 29). The deal looks to be the largest public company acquisition in the history of the U.S. cannabis industry.
The combined company will be one of the largest vertically-integrated multi-state cannabis operators in the U. S.; a leading North American cannabis company, by footprint; and one of the largest cannabis brand distributors.
“The acquisition of Origin House is another example of our focused and disciplined approach to creating a meaningful presence in key cannabis markets through excellence in brand development and distribution,” said Cresco Labs CEO and Co-founder Charlie Bachtell. “It establishes Cresco Labs as the leading multi-state operator with one of the largest distribution platforms in California. Having a similar priority on consumers and consumer brands with the expertise of executives from the largest wine and liquor distribution company in the United States, the team at Origin House has established the premier cannabis distribution company in the largest cannabis market in the world. It’s an incredible platform for Cresco in California and the distribution infrastructure will provide a valuable framework to leverage as we scale our platforms in other states.”
Origin House
Origin House is a growing cannabis brands and distribution company operating across key markets in the U.S. and Canada, with a strategic focus on becoming a preeminent global house of cannabis brands. The company’s foundation is in California where it delivers over 130 branded cannabis products from 50+ brands to the majority of licensed dispensaries. Origin House’s brand development platform is operated out of five licensed facilities located across California and provides distribution, manufacturing, cultivation and marketing services for its brand partners. Origin House is actively developing infrastructure to support the proliferation of its brands internationally, initially through its acquisition of Canadian retailer 180 Smoke.
“From an Origin House perspective, this transaction is directly aligned with our strategy to build a leading portfolio of cannabis brands in California and to rapidly and accretively take those brands to the rest of the U.S. market, as well as the Canadian market,” said Marc Lustig, Chairman, and CEO of Origin House. “By partnering with one of the largest and most innovative U.S. multi-state operators in existence today, Origin House will supercharge its growth and be in a position to offer its brand partners access to 10 additional states, with licenses and supporting infrastructure already in place. This Transaction is not the first opportunity we have reviewed, but it has received the unanimous support of our board and large shareholders because we are confident that together we will be in a position to truly change the face of the global cannabis industry while continuing to create significant value for the shareholders of both companies.”
Terms Of The Deal
Cresco Labs will acquire all of the issued and outstanding Origin House Shares, with each holder of Origin House common shares receiving 0.8428 Cresco Labs Shares for each Origin House Share (and each holder of an Origin House proportionate voting share receiving 84.28 Cresco Labs Shares for each proportionate voting share held), which implies a price per Origin House Share of C$12.68 (on an as-converted basis), representing a total consideration of approximately C$1.1 billion (on a fully-diluted).
Origin House shareholders will hold approximately 20% of the issued and outstanding Cresco Labs shares on a pro forma, fully-diluted and as converted basis, enabling Origin House shareholders the opportunity to participate in the expected value created through the deal. The company said there would be an immediate premium to Origin House shareholders of approximately 26% over the 30-day volume weighted average price.
Upon completion of the acquisition, as well as the receipt of licensure in Michigan and the closing of the company’s pending acquisition in Florida, Cresco Labs will have operations in 11 states, 23 facilities, more than 1.5 million square feet of cultivation, and licenses to operate up to 51 retail dispensaries. Cresco Labs brands will be sold in over 725 dispensaries across the United States.
“We are excited to welcome the Origin House team to the Cresco family,” said Cresco Labs President and Co-founder Joe Caltabiano. “With the addition of Origin House and its vast distribution network in California, we will have access to incredibly valuable real-time market data and insight into consumer buying patterns that will inform our product development strategies and reinforce our brand strength. In addition to their brand building and distribution expertise, Origin House has a very experienced M&A, corporate development and capital markets team that will be extremely valuable as we continue to expand and add scale through additional transactions. With respect to the capital markets impact, with the equity issued through this transaction, we expect to have substantially more shares in our float, which we believe will provide ample liquidity for larger institutional investors looking to deploy capital into the cannabis space. We expect that our larger scale and improved liquidity following this acquisition will positively impact our ability to attract a larger universe of potential investors and reduce our cost of capital in the future.”
