It’s been a busy week and Equity.Guru’s own Ethan Reyes, sums up the last seven days in the world of weed. Who’s buying who? Bubble-gum kings turn to cannabis? Marijuana activism and the democratic debates don’t mix?
Listen in or read the transcript below:
Transcript:
Hey there Gurus,
In case you missed it, here are the biggest stories of the week in cannabis.
Canopy Growth has ditched its CEO, Bruce Linton, after disappointing fourth quarter financials. Constellation Brands, Canopy’s biggest shareholder and manufacturer of beer and wine, holds four board seats after a $5B investment in Canada’s biggest weedco.
Constellation’s displeasure with Canopy’s financial performance is rumored to have been most likely the reason for Linton’s ouster. Constellation recorded Q1 losses of USD$106, partly due to its investment in Canopy, according to the Star.
Mark Zekulin, the former co-CEO, is stepping into Linton’s shoes as the company looks for a permanent replacement.
While Canopy searches for a new CEO, the United States is looking at a board shakeup of its own, potentially, as Democratic hopefuls vie for the presidential nomination and a chance to challenge Donald Trump for his spot in the White House.
The Democratic debates produced some very clippable moments and memes are still circulating over a week later, but one topic on everybody’s mind was, surprisingly, abset on the debate stage.
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey said he was “absolutely disappointed cannabis legalization was not brought up during the 2020 Democratic debate.
Cannabis is still a Schedule I drug in the United States, despite some states having implemented legalization themselves
Most of the candidates support either decriminalization or full-out legalization, with some, like Julian Castro, advocating for the expunging the records of Americans imprisoned for cannabis use.
President Donald Trump has feigned support for decriminalization in the past, but the Trump https://e4njohordzs.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/tnw8sVO3j-2.pngistration’s track record on access to cannabis for, say, military veterans, however, says otherwise.
Moving on to international politics, the European Union has signed a ‘landmark’ trade agreement with Mercosur, that’s the economic trading bloc made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The deal has been exactly 20 years in the making and will mean “will mean the integration of a market of some 800 million people, nearly a fourth of the world’s gross domestic product and more than $100 billion in bilateral trade of goods and services,” according to Argentina’s Foreign Ministry.
Alvaro Torres, Khiron Life Sciences CEO, celebrated both parties on reaching an agreement. Torres’ company recently acquired an Uruguayan cannabis producer licensed to export.
Torres said the deal strengthened his company’s ability to directly supply the European medical cannabis market.
Based in Colombia, Khiron has additional interests throughout Latin America including Mexico and Chile.
Deals are abound this summer. Much like the EU and Mercosur, Lifestyle Delivery systems and Transcanna, two California-based LPs, are attempting to reach an agreement of their own, but this time for a merger.
News of this potential merger has the cannabis world, not buzzing but, confused?
For background, Transcanna was originally a spin off of LDS, and now the former spin off is attempting to buy its parent.
There are two ways to look at this deal, and the market hasn’t decided on a dominant narrative.
Some say LDS stands to benefit from new leadership, while others believe Transcanna is just looking for a floor as 12 million shares come off lockup in a few days.
Either way, TCAN is down $0.81 to $3.34 since the news of the merger was announced last Saturday.
And lastly, is Wrigley Gum getting into chewing gum?
Well the answer is no, at least, not yet. Anything is possible these days, but one thing we know for sure is William Wrigley Jr., heir to the Wrigley Gum fortune, is pivoting from bubblegum to bubba kush, and the young heir says he wants all the smoke.
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, Wrigley Jr. has been named chairman of the board at Surterra Wellness. Surterra is a medical cannabis company operating in Texas and Florida.
The company has raised more than $100 million since 2015 and says it’s planning to use the money to research cannabis’ applications in treating pain and anxiety.
And that’s the week in cannabis news. Tune in next Friday for another edition of the week in weed. For Equity Guru, I’m Ethan Reyes.