investment

Subscribe to investment via RSS

Recently, I had the opportunity to moderate panels on cannabis and commercial real estate at programs held in Los Angeles and Chicago.  I won’t say it was the best of times or the worst of times, but I will say “it was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness.”

It was interesting to compare the programs and the audiences in the two cities.  In Chicago, where medical marijuana has been legal since 2014, and recreational marijuana has been legal for just over a month, people from many facets of the real estate industry — brokers, architects, contractors, real estate owners — came to learn about the new opportunities and pitfalls of the cannabis industry.  To be sure, some were experienced, having participated in the medical marijuana business, but others were, well, naïve about how pervasive local, state and even federal laws are in regulating cannabis use of commercial real estate.

In LA, where medical marijuana has been legal forever and recreational for three years, the commercial real estate industry has had enough experience with the cannabis industry to experience the impact of various laws and regulations on commercial real estate.  The audience came prepared to hear about how the cannabis and commercial real estate industries were addressing some of the issues resulting from the intersection of the industries.

Here are some key takeaways from the two panels:
Continue Reading Tale of Two Cities: Cannabis and Commercial Real Estate

Seyfarth Shaw LLP has released the results of its fourth annual Real Estate Market Sentiment Survey, which polled commercial real estate executives around the country from all sectors. Of interest to our readers, this year’s survey revealed that, despite the dramatic increase in the number of states legalizing marijuana, 85% of respondents are putting the brakes on investing in cannabis…
Continue Reading Survey Says…

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has recently introduced legislation that would decriminalize the use of marijuana on the federal level.

Although it would not legalize marijuana, Sen. Chuck…
Continue Reading The Week in Weed: July 6, 2018

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Mexico will legalize sales of marijuana-based medicines, foods, drinks, cosmetics and other products early next year, its health regulator said on Wednesday, bringing some forms of cannabis into…
Continue Reading The Week in Weed: December 22, 2017

There is a segment of the investment community that wants to invest in the cannabis industry in the worst way, and that is exactly how some are doing it.  Over the past several months our firm has reviewed a number of private placement memoranda (PPM) for clients, and while some appear to be solid and well written, others remind us of the early days of the internet boom when business plans were sometimes written on napkins.  Deficiencies we have found in PPMs include confusing descriptions of business plans, lack of financial projections, lack of basis for valuations, inadequate disclosure of risk factors and vague discussion of management compensation and/or equity holdings.

If you are planning to invest in a cannabis company, here are a few factors that you should consider before making a decision.
Continue Reading Invest in That?? What are you Smoking??

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Marijuana payment service PayQwick, which brands itself as the PayPal of marijuana, has secured a $2.86 million raise.

…
Continue Reading The Week in Weed: November 3, 2017

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Senior Canadian police officials tell MPs studying the government’s marijuana legalization legislation that police won’t be ready to enforce new laws by…
Continue Reading The Week in Weed: September 15, 2017

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Colorado’s largest city is on the brink of licensing some of the nation’s first legal marijuana clubs. But Denver’s elaborate hurdles for potential weed-friendly coffee shops and gathering…
Continue Reading The Week in Weed: August 25, 2017

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana

Some states that have legalized marijuana are encouraging minorities to enter the growing cannabis industry after years of drug enforcement that had a disproportionate effect on black…
Continue Reading The Week in Weed: June 2, 2017