[December 31, 2020]
Caliva Ends 2020 in Record-Breaking Fashion with Industry-Changing Announcements
Caliva, the largest vertically integrated, omnichannel cannabis company in California, closes 2020 with a myriad of exciting milestones and the momentum to build on in 2021. Successful new brand and product launches, retail delivery expansion, social justice efforts and strategic growth partnerships ensure that consumers will have even more to look forward to from this cannabis powerhouse in the coming year.
In a year as unprecedented as 2020, Caliva CEO Dennis O Malley concedes,
we were thrilled to build on Caliva s success by growing our consumer reach, expanding our social equity work, and bringing new innovation to the world of cannabis. With all that the Caliva team has accomplished in 2020, we re looking forward to continuing our momentum into 2021.
IPOs are hot in Silicon Valley. SPACs are even hotter [San Francisco Chronicle]
Dec. 24 Andrew Paradise, CEO of mobile e-sports company Skillz, rang the New York Stock Exchange’s opening bell this month, a time-honored way that newly public companies celebrate their Wall Street debut. Because of the pandemic, he did so remotely over Skype.
But there was an even bigger difference from tradition in how Skillz went public.
The San Francisco company eschewed a conventional initial public offering, in which investment bankers pitch a company to investors and arrange for sales of its shares before they begin trading on Wall Street. Instead it merged with an already-public entity called a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC (pronounced “spak”), that had formed and gone public for the express purpose of acquiring a company. The fact that they go public with the express intent of buying an operating business gives rise to SPACs’ nickname: blank-check companies.
Ja Rule, Jay-Z and DMX. CREDIT: Getty Images
Ja Rule has recalled the struggles he endured when trying to get his supergroup with Jay-Z and DMX off the ground.
In 1995, the ‘Livin’ It Up’ rapper joined forces with Jay and X to form the group Murder Inc. – a name which was later used for the Ja’s record label. The trio made their debut on Mic Geronimo’s ‘Time To Build’, taken from the New York rapper’s debut album, ‘The Natural’.
The group would go on to connect, in variations, on several tracks throughout the 90s (most notably ‘It’s Murda’ and ‘Murdagram’), but they never fully realised their potential or released an official project.
IPOs are hot in Silicon Valley. SPACs are even hotter
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Paw Andersen is chief technology officer of Metromile. The San Francisco auto insurer has agreed to become publicly traded through a deal known as a SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company.Paul Kuroda / Special to The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
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Virgin Galactic is merging with Social Capital Hedosophia, whose CEO, Chamath Palihapitiya, will become chairman of the combined entity.Matt Hartman / Associated Press 2018Show MoreShow Less
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Andersen joined Metromile last year from Uber. The company charges customers based on miles driven.Paul Kuroda / Special to The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
December 20, 2020 at 10:59 am
You’re reading a copy of this week’s edition of the New Cannabis Ventures weekly newsletter, which we have been publishing since October 2015. The newsletter includes unique insight to help our readers stay ahead of the curve as well as links to the week’s most important news.
Friends,
The American cannabis industry is ending 2020 on a high note, with strong growth, easier access to equity and debt capital and expanding opportunities as more states legalize. There are now 9 multi-state operators with market caps above $1 billion, with more on the way through newly public companies that will begin trading in Q1. Investors are excited by the growth, and we are already seeing several companies use M&A to supplement strong organic growth. Some recent examples include Jushi Holdings, Trulieve and Ayr Strategies making acquisitions in Pennsylvania, Ayr Strategies also entering Ohio and Arizona through acquisitions, TerrAscend entering the Marylan