Business
Fitch chops Canopy rating, citing cannabis producer’s Constellation link
Canopy Growth’s planned entry into the U.S. marijuana market has hit another hurdle – this time over the cannabis producer’s ties to its largest investor.
Fitch Ratings downgraded its credit assessment of the Ontario, Canada-based Canopy to CCC-, one of its lowest ratings.
CCC carries “substantial credit risk” such that default is a real possibility.
It’s the second time in six months that Canopy’s credit rating has come under scrutiny from Fitch.
The New York-based ratings company said it believes the strategic link between Canopy’s biggest investor, alcohol giant Constellation Brands (CBI), and the licensed cannabis producer “has materially diminished” after Canopy announced its plan to speed its entry into the U.S. THC market.
“As such, Canopy’s ratings no longer benefit from a one-notch uplift from its standalone credit profile,” Fitch said.
In a statement to MJBizDaily, a Canopy spokesperson said Constellation Brands remains vested in Canopy’s success as a major shareholder “and fully supports this strategy as the best way to position Canopy for near- and long-term success.”
The spokesperson added that Canopy is making the move to take its destiny into its own hands by fast-tracking its entry into the U.S. marijuana market and taking full ownership of its investments there.
Constellation executives touched on their commitment to Canopy and the cannabis industry in a conference call with analysts on Oct. 6.
After being asked how long Constellation is willing to “wait” for U.S. legalization and how he views the alcohol company’s stake in the cannabis producer changing, Constellation CEO William Newlands said, “I wouldn’t expect you to see the size of our investment in that change.”
Newlands admitted he “failed miserably” in predicting the pace of U.S. legalization but also said he’s “hopeful” there will soon be progress.
In its latest update, Fitch said it downgraded the long-term issuer default ratings for Canopy Growth from CCC to CCC-.
Fitch also lowered the credit rating of the senior secured term loan facility from B/RR1 to B-/RR1.
Fitch’s action comes less than a week after Canopy announced a plan to speed its entry into the American market.
Rather than waiting for the United States to legalize at the federal level, Canopy launched Canopy USA, which would purchase the three American marijuana businesses Canopy had agreed to buy after the U.S. ended prohibition, pending various approvals.
Canopy’s proposal calls for Canopy USA, not Canopy Growth, to own the assets, and the Canadian business would hold nonvoting, exchangeable shares in Canopy USA.
“Fitch believes the transaction, as proposed, is subject to material execution risks including regulatory, shareholder and exchange approval,” the credit ratings agency said.
Stock exchange risk
Fitch isn’t the first to raise concerns about the deal.
The New York-based Nasdaq stock exchange objects to Canopy’s plan to eventually consolidate the financial results of Canopy USA.
By contrast, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) suggested that the proposed structure is compatible with the exchange’s rules.
Neither the TSX nor the Nasdaq would answer specific MJBizDaily questions.
“Canopy’s credit agreement contains affirmative covenants to comply with all policies and listing requirements of public securities exchanges,” the Fitch notice acknowledged, adding: “A failure to remain listed on at least one exchange would be a condition for an event of default.”
Fitch noted that Canopy USA would need to maintain funding separate from its parent company.
“Fitch will continue to review Canopy’s corporate structure and exposure to U.S. THC assets that are federally illegal and whether that increases rating concerns,” the ratings company said.
Fitch also noted “significant execution risks” in Canopy’s premiumization strategy and an uncertain path to profitability, highlighting significant lost market share in Canada.
“This has delayed production of a consistent, higher-quality supply at commercial scale and generated weak operating results with an uncertain path to profitability,” according to the Fitch note.
“Canopy hopes to counter these issues with a change in its genetics and cultivation strategy to higher quality cannabis with the right attributes … for the premium and mainstream flower, pre-rolls, edible and vape markets, while using the value segment as an outlet strategy.”
On that point, Constellation’s executives said during the analyst conference call they continue to believe that Canopy’s focus on “premiumizing” its cannabis branded portfolio in Canada “is appropriate,” and they remain supportive of Canopy’s efforts to strengthen their emerging consumer packaged goods brand distribution.
Fitch said further negative rating actions could be taken if the company’s “premiumization” cultivation strategy fails, or if it pursues a repayment of the remaining 2023 notes that Fitch considers a distressed debt exchange, if liquidity appears constrained, such that a default is probable.
Canopy shares trade as WEED on the Toronto Stock Exchange and as CGC on the Nasdaq.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/fitch-chops-canopy-rating-citing-cannabis-producers-constellation-link/
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Four marijuana companies, including a multistate operator, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they allege the federal MJ prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act is no longer constitutional.
According to the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, retailer Canna Provisions, Treevit delivery service CEO Gyasi Sellers, cultivator Wiseacre Farm and MSO Verano Holdings Corp. are all harmed by “the federal government’s unconstitutional ban on cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing intrastate marijuana.”
Verano is headquartered in Chicago but has operations in Massachusetts; the other three operators are based in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the “Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to the intrastate cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law.”
The companies want the case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They hired prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to represent them.
The New York-based firm’s principal is David Boies, whose former clients include Microsoft, former presidential candidate Al Gore and Elizabeth Holmes’ disgraced startup Theranos.
Similar challenges to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) have failed.
One such challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2005.
In Gonzalez vs. Raich, the highest court in the United States ruled in a 6-3 decision that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to outlaw marijuana federally, even though state laws allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
In the 18 years since that ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana and the federal government has allowed a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry to thrive.
Since both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice, currently headed by Garland, have declined to intervene in state-licensed marijuana markets, the key facts that led to the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling “no longer apply,” Boies said in a statement Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has since made clear that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate purely intrastate commerce,” Boies said.
“Moreover, the facts on which those precedents are based are no longer true.”
Verano President Darren Weiss said in a statement the company is “prepared to bring this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to align federal law with how Congress has acted for years.”
While the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana would help solve marijuana operators’ federal tax woes, neither rescheduling nor modest Congressional reforms such as the SAFER Banking Act “solve the fundamental issue,” Weiss added.
“The application of the CSA to lawful state-run cannabis business is an unconstitutional overreach on state sovereignty that has led to decades of harm, failed businesses, lost jobs, and unsafe working conditions.”
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
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