Investorideas.com, a leading investor news resource covering hemp and cannabis stocks continues with our two part series on how the growing cannabis market is boosting ancillary markets, with part two focusing specifically on acquisitions in the cannabis sector.

According to a recent Forbes article, “most of the businesses growing, processing and selling cannabis across the United States are small independently-held entities. That may change in 2019 which looks like a big year for industry mergers, acquisitions and expansion. Large companies, like those in the food, tobacco and pharmaceutical industries have mostly stayed on the sidelines, held back by regulatory concerns, but are now expected to enter the market. The cannabis industry still has a mom and pop feel but that could change rapidly.”

Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) (TSX: WEED) is a strong example of one such larger company making acquisitions, having recently acquired AgriNextUSA, a hemp enterprise led by CEO, Geoff Whaling, that has been at the forefront of hemp advocacy and building a vibrant hemp sector in the US. The acquisition is expected to accelerate Canopy Growth's entry into key American jurisdictions as regulations surrounding the full use of hemp as a crop implementation.

SinglePoint (OTC: SING), a company with a focus on acquiring companies that will benefit from the injection of growth capital and technology integration in mobile payments, ancillary cannabis services and blockchain solutions, has been very busy making recent acquisitions in Cannabis and most recently solar, all which could benefit their cannabis division was featured in Part One of this series.

The company offers mobile Web checkout gateway services which allow mobile users to purchase goods and services directly from Web-enabled mobile phones through credit or debit cards. It also sells hemp products through SingleSeed.com, supplies hydroponic supplies and nutrients to commercial and individual farmers through retail and online stores. SinglePoint, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Harvest Health and Recreation (OTC: HRVSF) (CSE: HARV) recently announced that it would buy competitor Verano Holdings for $850 million in an all-stock deal, marking the largest US cannabis deal to date. The combined company will be one of the country's largest multi-state operators, presiding over as many as 200 facilities in 16 states.

Steve White, the co-founder and CEO of Harvest, commented on the state of the market in a recent CNBC article. "Presently, we're in a phase that people are referring to it as a land grab," White told CNBC's ’Fast Money.’ "We plan on ... developing the largest retail footprint, the largest retail platform, in the United States, and with this acquisition, I think we've done that."

Green Thumb Industries Inc. (CSE: GTII) (OTC: GTBIF) also recently announced the closing of the acquisition of For Success Holding Company, the Los Angeles-based creator of the lifestyle suite of Beboe branded cannabis products.

Beboe is the leader in luxury cannabis whose mission is to ‘destigmatize’ legal cannabis through heightened experience and education. Beboe is best known the thoughtful design aesthetic of its iconic rose gold vaporizing pens and edible pastilles, and each product is curated with a unique blend of socially dosed THC and CBD. Beboe is currently available in more than 125 retail locations in California and Colorado and via home delivery across California. In 2018, Beboe launched a direct-to-consumer hemp-derived CBD line of products and introduced several collaborations, including a CBD-infused drink with wellness brand Dirty Lemon.

In early 2019, Barneys New York announced an exclusive partnership with Beboe for a first-of-its-kind luxury cannabis lifestyle and wellness concept shop, “The High End.” The shop will debut at Barneys’ Beverly Hills flagship location in March, with plans to expand to additional locations in the near future. The collaboration includes exclusive, special edition packaging and a silver Beboe vaporizer pen in celebration of the project. With the acquisition by GTI, Beboe products will become available beyond California and Colorado with distribution in select markets.

This “land grab” momentum is expected to continue through 2019 as the cannabis sector expands and consolidates within its own sector and with its ancillary markets. This may mean that the companies making early acquisitions will have a much better chance of success in the market.