Cannabis MSO Green Thumb nets $100 million through initial US stock sale

Cannabis multistate operator Green Thumb Industries said it accepted an offer to sell $100 million of stock to a single institutional investor as part of a previously announced securities offering in the United States – a first for the company.

Chicago-based Green Thumb said the proceeds from the sale of 3.1 million subordinate voting shares at $32.03 per share will be used to increase the company’s financial flexibility. The company said the sale would close Tuesday.

Green Thumb shares, traded on the over-the-counter market under the ticker symbol GTBIF, rose on the news. The shares closed at $35.75, up 5.5%, after reaching as high as $37.96 during the day.

The company’s subordinate voting shares also sell on the Canadian Securities Exchange as GTII.

“This investment reflects the very real interest, understanding and momentum behind the potential $100 billion U.S. cannabis opportunity that is happening now,” Green Thumb founder and CEO Ben Kovler said in a news release.

Capital raising in the marijuana sector has been robust since Democrats took control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress and the presidency.

In January alone, North American cannabis companies either closed or announced more than $1.6 billion in capital raises, according to an analysis by Denver-based MJResearchCo.

Green Thumb filed the offer to sell the stock with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in August, saying it wanted to raise about $150 million through the sale of up to 10 million shares of stock.

At that time, Green Thumb stock was trading at roughly $15 a share.

That offering became effective Monday.