Pot companies eye real estate asset sales to help survive financing drought  

Cannabis companies running out of cash are beginning to sell their real estate assets to help finance their operations amid a dearth of financing options. Bloomberg News reports that Innovative Industrial Properties, a cannabis-focused real estate investment trust, has done US$375.6 million worth of deals in 2019. IIPR shares are climbing above the BI Global Cannabis Competitive Peers benchmark index as more cannabis companies flock to the firm for financing needs as equity and debt options dry up. IIPR currently owns 38 U.S. cannabis properties totaling 2.8 million rentable square feet, Bloomberg reports.

Columbia Care makes Colorado play with US$140M deal for The Green Solution 

U.S. cannabis operator Columbia Care is buying Colorado-based The Green Solution for US$140 million, the company announced late Tuesday. The deal would increase Columbia Care’s U.S. footprint to 93 facilities open or under development and manufacturing locations covering 15 regions across the U.S. to an addressable population of over 155 million people. The Green Solution operates 21 dispensaries in Colorado, plans to open another two stores in Q4, and has three indoor grows totaling more than 250,000 square feet. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2020 pending regulatory approval.

Ontario to soon let cannabis customers click-and-collect orders, buy goods from producer facilities 

The Ontario government plans to amend legislation to allow licensed producers to open retail stores near their production sites as well as allowing licensed pot stores to let consumers order products online and pick them up in-store. However, the government said in its fall economic update its discussions with retailers and cannabis producers to shift its wholesale business to the private-sector, a story first reported by BNN Bloomberg, remains ongoing. The Ontario government didn’t provide further detail on when it plans to open up the licence application process for additional cannabis stores in the province in its fall economic update. Ontario says it will make a $10 million profit for its cannabis operations in fiscal 2019-2020, and expects to make $75 million in 2020-2021, and $80 million in 2021-2022. Ontario’s portion of excise tax revenue is expected to come in around $70 million this fiscal year, which should double in 2020-2021, and $150 million in 2021-2022.