U.S. medical cannabis producer Columbia Care begins trading on Canada’s NEO Exchange

Canadian stock exchange NEO Exchange scored its first billion-dollar corporate listing after U.S. cannabis producer Columbia Care began trading on the bourse. The company, with a market valuation of about $2 billion, has operations in 12 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C. and Malta. The listing marks a milestone for the NEO Exchange, which launched in mid-2015 and represents close to 10 per cent of all volume traded in Canadian-listed securities. Columbia Care’s CEO Nicholas Vita spoke to BNN Bloomberg earlier on Monday and discussed his company's strategy in the cannabis sector and plans for growth, including the European Union.

Canopy Growth discloses early plans for U.S. hemp venture in former vacuum cleaner factory

Canopy Growth raised the curtain on their ambitious U.S. hemp plans on Monday, disclosing that the Canadian cannabis company plans to retrofit a former vacuum cleaner factory for its future processing needs. Design work for the 308,000 sq. ft. facility on a 48-acre property in Kirkwood, NY will begin this summer, the company said in a release. Canopy’s hemp production plans mirror how it converted an abandoned Hershey's chocolate factory to cannabis production back in 2014. Canopy added in its release it will begin hiring senior leadership to manage the plant in late 2019 and recruit the full workforce in mid-2020.

Farmako links up with Canada’s Zenabis in three-year CBD and cannabis supply deal  

German cannabis producer Farmako announced a three-year supply deal with Canada’s Zenabis Global on Monday. Under the agreement Farmako will supply Zenabis with 36,000 kilograms of biosynthetically produced pure CBD isolate oil while Zenabis commits to supplying Farmako with up to 5,000 kilograms annually of EU-GMP certified cannabis exported from Zenabis’ indoor facilities in Canada. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The supply deal may solve Farmako’s earlier predicament where a supply shortage among Canadian cannabis producers led the company to miss out on a big import deal in Europe.

Charlotte’s Web taps former Kraft, Kellogg exec as new CEO

U.S. CBD producer Charlotte’s Web said it tapped a former Kraft and Kellogg executive as its new CEO on Monday. Adrienne "Deanie" Elsner, former head of Kellogg’s U.S. snacks division, will join Charlotte’s Web next month as the company’s next CEO after a 25 year career with the consumer packaged goods industry. The company’s current CEO Hess Moallem will remain with the company in an advisory role.