Curaleaf, the largest U.S. cannabis company, is on track to become the largest of its kind in the world after announcing a $ 286 million contract to acquire European marijuana company Emmac Life Sciences.
The Massachusetts-based settler and dealer announced Tuesday that they have agreed to receive Emmac for a combination of cash and stock. The agreement, which is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, will extend Curaleaf’s footprint to eight countries, including Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Going abroad: Boris Jordan, chairman of cannabis billionaire Curaleaf company, says Europeans … [+]
PHOTO BY ARSENY NESKHODYMOV FOR FORBES
Boris Jordan, chairman of Curaleaf’s billionaire executive, said when the company hits Tuesday that the construction is a “transformational starting point” and will turn the company into a major force in the global cannabis industry.
“We believe that Europe will transform into a cannabis market center that will ultimately compete with the United States,” Jordan said in the wake of the employment call.
The deal was first reported by Bloomberg.
Jordan, which owns $ 2.5 billion in the company, said Europe is part of the company’s long-term growth strategy. Jordan explained during Curaleaf’s employment call that Europe’s population of 743 million is more than twice that of the U.S. and the continent will provide a full-fledged market of $ 120 billion.
“[This is] the first step towards global markets, ”said Jordan.
Curaleaf plans to expand its global footprint in line with the marijuana reform march. European countries have followed a similar path in cannabis legalization as seen in the US Over the next few years, some EU countries are expected to legislate on cannabis cultivation. passed. Both Switzerland and the Netherlands plan to launch pilot leisure programs this year. Luxemburg is considering making a law by 2023.
Jordan described the construction of Emmac as a “step for future expansion” in Eastern Europe, including existing medical markets in Poland and Croatia as well as potential new markets. in countries like Ukraine.
To meet the growing demand, Emmac’s cultivation facility in Portugal, which happens to be one of the oldest permitted cannabis growing facilities in Europe, plans to increase its annual cultivation capacity to 10 tons ro 2022.
Europe is not Curaleaf’s last stop. Finally, Jordan hopes to expand to the Middle East and Africa.
“It is also a means of access to South Africa and Morocco, which are both examining proposals to introduce legislation,” he said.
Curaleaf also accounted for his fourth quarter and full-year earnings Tuesday. The company’s total revenue for 2020 was a record high of $ 626.6 million, an increase of 183% over 2019. Curaleaf reported $ 144 million in adjusted EBITDA, four times 2019 levels. The company reported a net loss for 2020— $ 61.7 million, compared to a net loss of $ 67.2 million in 2019.
Jordan, who took control of Curaleaf in 2013 through his private equity firm and made it public on the Canadian Stock Exchange in 2018, said. Forbes in November that it positions Curaleaf as a consumer packaged goods company.
“We make the products much more customizable for our customers – we will be no different than Coca-Cola or Frito-Lay,” Jordan said. Forbes.
To solidify its packaged goods strategy, Jordan has introduced new leadership this year. In January 2021, Curaleaf Longtime Commander Joe Lusardi resigned to make way for Joe Bayern, who had been president of Curaleaf and previously worked for Dr. Pepper Snapple, and Cadbury.
“We are embarking on the next phase of achieving our ambition to become a global leader in cannabis,” Bayern said in a call Tuesday.
Curaleaf became the largest cannabis company in America thanks to Jordan’s aggressive rollup strategy, one that he said developed in Europe by consolidating the data center industry with Telecity. In September 2019, Curaleaf had 49 treatments, but there are now 101. In 2019, Curaleaf announced two of the company’s most changed initiatives – Cura Partners (owner of the Select brand), a vape and THC concentrates company, bought Curaleaf in a $ 365 million stock deal, and Grassroots, one of the largest private settlers and retailers with 30 dispensaries throughout Illinois, Nevada, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio, North Dakota, which bought Curaleaf for $ 830 million.
Jordan is now using that strategy again in Europe.
“2021 will be transformative,” he said. “Those who invest aggressively in the future growth and scale of cannabis will find cannabis. ”