You are here
Home 🌿 Marijuana Business News 🌿 Canopy Growth-backed Slang to debut with $500-million market value 🌿Canopy Growth-backed Slang to debut with $500-million market value

Two cannabis entrepreneurs who sold their first pot company to Canopy Growth Corp. for $430 million (US$324 million) may hit pay dirt again when they take their cannabis brand company public.
Slang Worldwide Inc., co-founded by Peter Miller and Billy Levy, begins trading at $1.50 a share Tuesday on the Canadian Securities Exchange for a market value of about $500 million, according to a company representative. That would be more valuable than Mettrum Health Corp. when Miller and Levy sold it in early 2017 to Canopy, the world’s largest cannabis company.
Unlike Mettrum, Slang won’t be growing pot and it has no plans to open its own retail stores. Instead, it’s focused on brands and distribution, particularly in the U.S. where it’s already in 10 states and plans to be in 10 more before the end of the year. As legalization of recreational pot spreads around the world, cannabis is shifting from an agricultural product to a consumer-packaged good, Miller said.
“The best brands tied to the best distribution networks will ultimately be where the most value is created,” he said in a phone interview.
Slang owns several cannabis brands, including O.penVape, the second-best selling U.S. legal cannabis product with US$187 million of sales from 2014 through November 2018, according to data from cannabis research firm BDS Analytics that was shared by Slang. The company, which sells its products in 2,600 stores, reported US$21 million of consolidated revenue in the nine months ended Sept. 30 and a net loss of about $24 million.
Colorado Training
Slang raised $66 million in a September financing and intends to use the public markets to access the capital it will need to expand into other countries in Europe and Latin America. It will trade under the ticker SLNG.
Miller, a Canadian, and Levy, who’s American, knew little about pot when they founded Mettrum in 2013 to grow medical cannabis in Canada, so they turned to U.S. markets like Colorado where the drug was already legal to learn about best practices.
“We went and developed a lot of expertise and relationships that are now part of Slang, and I think having that cross-border view has been super helpful to put us in the position we’re in today,” Levy said.
Slang has operations in Canada through Agripharm Corp., a licensed cannabis producer that’s 20 per cent owned by Slang and 40 per cent owned by Spectrum Cannabis Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Canopy.
Canopy has a warrant that allows it to acquire 32 million shares in Slang, or about 15 per cent of the company, if the U.S. legalizes cannabis at the federal level. The warrant is tied to a collaboration agreement that would see Canopy and Slang partner on distribution, marketing and research.
“Ultimately we care about one thing and pretty much one thing only, and that’s getting the most servings of cannabis into the world with our brands on them,” Miller said.
420 Intel is Your Source for Marijuana News
420 Intel Canada is your leading news source for the Canadian cannabis industry. Get the latest updates on Canadian cannabis stocks and developments on how Canada continues to be a major player in the worldwide recreational and medical cannabis industry.
420 Intel Canada is the Canadian Industry news outlet that will keep you updated on how these Canadian developments in recreational and medical marijuana will impact the country and the world. Our commitment is to bring you the most important cannabis news stories from across Canada every day of the week.
Marijuana industry news is a constant endeavor with new developments each day. For marijuana news across the True North, 420 Intel Canada promises to bring you quality, Canadian, cannabis industry news.
You can get 420 Intel news delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for our daily marijuana news, ensuring you’re always kept up to date on the ever-changing cannabis industry. To stay even better informed about marijuana legalization news follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.