Debra Borchardt
Cannabis debt provider Sweet Leaf Madison Capital closed on a new $100 million debt facility. Sweet Leaf didn’t name the company providing the capital, but it was described as “A prominent New York-based global institutional special situations asset manager”. Sweet Leaf said in a statement that the cash infusion would make it one of the best-financed asset-based lenders to small- and medium-sized enterprises in the cannabis industry. In addition to the initial $100 million, the statement said that both parties would have the option to evaluate the progress and increase the debt facility to $200MM.
“This infusion of capital is a strong show of confidence in cannabis debt financing, as well as in Sweet Leaf Madison’s approach to working in this highly regulated and fragmented industry,” said Bryan Gordon, Chairman and CEO of SLMC. “The opportunity to help businesses from ‘seed-to-sale’ achieve their potential is what drives everyone at SLMC, and we look forward to working with more companies to fund their growth and the growth of the industry.”
Sweet Leaf Madison Capital provides customized, “seed-to-sale,” asset-based lending solutions to the underserved middle-market of the cannabis industry by originating equipment financing, real estate loans, and senior secured term loans. This recent funding will enable SLMC to further narrow the gap between cannabis businesses and capital needs. Rather than investing in one business or one market, Sweet Leaf Madison said it spreads its asset-based debt financing across a wide range of cannabis businesses in all medical and adult-use states.
According to the latest Viridian Capital Advisors Deal tracker, year-to-date US cultivation and retail sector capital raises are down 86.2% from 2022. The report wrote, “Debt is still the only game in town, accounting for 89.4% of all cultivation sector capital raised. The vast majority of the debt raised has been for public companies. Large transactions are still absent from the market. There have been no debt or equity deals over $100 million year-to-date.”
Bryant Park Capital is a FINRA-registered investment bank that provides mergers and acquisitions, debt, equity, and corporate advisory services to its clients in the middle market, served as Sweet Leaf’s exclusive financial advisor and was integral in this transaction.
