彼得·泰尔收购Tilray公司，涉足大麻产业

大麻产业炙手可热。

加拿大大麻公司Tilray在周一宣布了一项交易，将与大股东Privateer合并，Privateer是一家以大麻为中心的私人股本控股公司，背后是亿万富翁彼得·泰尔。

这笔交易将可阻止Privateer向公众放出7500万持股（约占Tilray在外流通股的77%）， Tilray可以在合同的第一年里酌情将该笔股份逐步出售给机构和战略投资者以及其他公司。

对Tilray股东来说，合并可以防止Tilray股票大量涌入市场拉低股价。“这笔交易实际上将把出售股票的控制权从Privateer转移到Tilray，并可以提高Tilray管理公众持股的能力。”Cowen公司的分析师薇薇安·阿泽尔在周一发布报告称。“此外，延长锁定期和交易相关条件可以降低因公众持有Tilray股份快速增长带来的风险。”

对Privateer投资者来说，这笔交易则可能带来更高的回报。

Privateer的执行合伙人迈克尔·布鲁在新闻稿中表示，合并后投资者可以通过“节税的方式”实现“整体回报最大化”。但众所周知，Tilray的股票一直都是空头的目标。此前，许多投资者都乐观地认为，如果Privateer最终售出全部7500万股股票，空头头寸也就无关紧要了。但合并交易宣布后，可能得静观其变。

虽然Tilray的股价已经从去年9月200美元的高点暴跌至目前的40美元左右，但合并消息传出后提振了投资者的看涨情绪，周一收盘股价大涨约11%。

而且对大麻市场上的其他人来说，该项合并说明投资者不仅对Tilray抱有信心，对整个大麻市场也有信心。

“大麻行业不是在玩‘拉高出货’——虽然很多人都这么以为，但整个市场还是有巨大的潜力。” 专注于大麻领域的加拿大投资公司Nabis Holdings的总裁马克·克里蒂克说道。

“这笔交易能让我们加大对公众持股的控制权，还可以把股票交给长期投资者或战略投资者，而不只是让股票进入市场。”Tilray的首席财务官马克·卡斯塔内达在周一对彭博社说道。

在克里蒂克眼中，该笔交易显示了Tilray独特的战略。

“这种战略就是跟‘聪明钱’结盟，‘聪明钱’不会想在突然获得15%到20%的收益然后抛售股票。”克里蒂克说道。“这显然说明Privateer对Tilray抱有信心，想发展成长期品牌。”

鉴于许多大公司都想要涉足大麻市场，Tilray此举应该经过深思熟虑。事实上，饮料巨头百威英博最近已经与这家加拿大的大麻公司合作，研究用四氢大麻酚和大麻二酚生产饮料。

Tilray希望战略投资者和其他公司接收其出售的股票，可能意味着该公司有意跟饮料和药品巨头达成更多交易。“如果百威英博想要进行大规模投资，我们现在就有了更好的方法，即分为初级和次级股票。而且很可能会有其他公司直接投资Tilray，例如快速消费品公司、药草公司或制药公司等。”卡斯塔内达于周一向彭博社说道。

通过此次合并，Tilray似乎已经准备好通过战略合作伙伴吸引更大的投资者，以及希望投资大麻领域的大公司。克里蒂克认为，投资者将发现许多“跨州的不同运营商联合起来，甚至还会有机构和投资者加入其中”。

虽然Tilray此举主要以机构投资者为目标，但克里蒂克认为，个人投资者也可能从中受益。

“与六个月前相比，目前市场正在下跌，因此这项交易能提振某些人的士气，以免他们紧张兮兮地觉得投资Tilray过早。”克里蒂克说道。“该交易确实显示大股东决心长期支持Tilray，对散户和小投资者有所帮助，因为他们看到连大股东都愿意锁定股票并相信公司发展，那么或许（他们）也应该保持信心。”

不过，该笔锁定交易仍然需要经过Tilray和Privateer双方股东的批准，然后才能完成合并。

换而言之，还算不上板上钉钉。（财富中文网）

译者：Feb

Pot is hot.

Canadian cannabis company Tilray announced Monday a deal to merge with majority shareholder Privateer, a cannabis-centric private equity holding company backed by billionaire Peter Thiel.

The deal would prevent Privateer from releasing their 75 million shares (some 77% of Tilray’s outstanding shares) to the public, and instead will allow the shares to be slowly unloaded to institutional and strategic investors as well as companies during the first year of the contract, at Tilray’s discretion.

For Tilray shareholders, the merger would prevent Tilray’s shares from flooding the market and potentially pushing its stock price down. “The transaction effectively flips the control of a stock sale from Privateer to TLRY, and provides TLRY increased ability to manage its public float,” Cowen analyst Vivien Azer told clients in a note on Monday. “In addition, the extended lock-up and conditions associated with the transactions reduces the risk associated with an excessive increase in TLRY’s public float.”

For Privateer investors, the deal means returns could get even higher.

The merger would allow investors to “maximize overall returns” in a “tax-efficient manner,” according to Michael Blue, Managing Partner of Privateer, in a press release. Still, Tilray’s stock has notoriously been a target for short-sellers. Many of these investors were optimistic for a short position if Privateer ended up unloading all 75 million shares. But with the merger, they may have to bide their time.

Although the stock’s price has plunged from highs in the $200 range last September to its current price around $40, investors were feeling bullish on the announcement, pushing the stock up some 11% on Monday as of market close.

Still, for others in the cannabis market, the merger signals a show of confidence in cannabis on the whole, as well as in Tilray.

“This isn’t just a pump and dump industry – a lot of people are saying the industry is, but there’s still a huge upside potential in all the markets,” Mark Krytiuk, President of Nabis Holdings, a Canadian investment company focused on the cannabis space, said.

“This transaction gives us more control over the public float and allows us to put it with long-term investors or strategic investors as opposed to just having these shares hit the market,” Tilray’s Chief Financial Officer Mark Castaneda told Bloomberg on Monday.

And to those like Krytiuk, Tilray’s merger shows a distinct strategy.

“It’s also aligning yourself with smart money that isn’t going to suddenly get a 15% to 20% return and then dump shares,” Krytiuk said. “It definitely shows the confidence Privateer has in Tilray and developing it into a long-term brand.”

Given the slew of big companies looking to get in on cannabis, Tilray’s move appears calculated. In fact, beverage powerhouse Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) – the makers of Budweiser – recently partnered with the Canadian cannabis company to research making beverages with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).

By targeting strategic investors and companies to pick up their stock release, Tilray appears to be pushing for more deals involving beverage and drug heavy-hitters. “So if AB InBev wanted to make a large investment we now have a better way to handle that investment with primary and secondary shares, and there could likely be others like CPG companies or tobacco companies or pharmaceutical companies that invest directly into Tilray,” Castaneda told Bloomberg on Monday.

With the merger move, Tilray seems positioned to attract even bigger investors through strategic partners and large companies seeking to invest in the cannabis space. Krytiuk thinks investors will see a lot of “different multistate operators that are joining forces, and even institutions and investors.”

But while Tilray’s move seems largely targeted at institutional investors, Krytiuk believes there may be benefits even for individual investors.

“Compared to six months ago, the market right now is down so it helps boost people that are maybe nervous that are saying they got into Tilray early,” Krytiuk said. “It really emphasizes that the major shareholder is committed to Tilray and to a long-term place. It almost helps the retail and smaller investors because they’re seeing that if these big guys are willing to lock up their shares and believe in this company, maybe [they] should too.”

Still, the lock-up deal awaits shareholder approval from both Tilray and Privateer before the merger can be completed.

In other words, it’s not quite legal yet.