Marijuana MSO Cresco Labs files $1 billion shelf prospectus

Illinois-based marijuana multistate operator Cresco Labs filed a preliminary prospectus to raise up to $1 billion in securities over the next 25 months.

Cresco is the latest cannabis company to file a large so-called shelf registration as the investment climate for marijuana companies brightens.

Cresco filed its preliminary short-form prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 26.

Canada-based Canopy Growth recently made a similar filing in an effort to raise up to $2 billion (2.5 billion Canadian dollars), believed to be the industry’s largest shelf registration to date.

The registrations don’t mean the companies necessarily will raise the money, but they do enable the marijuana operators to offer securities quickly depending on market conditions, opportunities and funding needs.

In January, Cresco raised $125 million in a securities offering in Canada that was enabled by a shelf registration filed in July 2019.

That capital raise came around the same time Cresco signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bluma Wellness for $213 million in a move to expand into Florida’s high-growth MMJ market.

Cresco’s shares trade on the US over-the-counter market under the ticker symbol CRLBF and the Canadian Securities Exchange under CL