Hashish stickers on a Weed World retailer window are pictured the day New York State legalized leisure marijuana use amid the coronavirus illness (COVID-19) pandemic within the Manhattan borough of New York Metropolis, New York, U.S., March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Aug 6 (Reuters) – High cannabis-focused web site Leafly is in talks to merge with blank-check firm Merida Merger Corp I in a deal that will worth the mixed firm at greater than $530 million, three folks aware of the matter informed Reuters.
The blank-check agency is owned by Merida Capital Holdings, one of many greatest backers of Leafly, whose web site visits have seen a meteoric rise due to easing laws in america and rising weed use.
A deal could possibly be introduced as quickly as subsequent week, the supply stated, cautioning that talks might nonetheless crumble.
Following the merger, Merida will take no less than one seat on the mixed firm’s board, whereas Leafly’s staff will proceed to be led by Chief Govt Yoko Miyashita, the sources stated, declining to be named as talks had been nonetheless confidential.
Leafly and Merida didn’t instantly reply to a remark.
The corporate plans use the proceeds from the deal partly to take a position extra into its east coast enterprise, the sources stated.
Based in 2010, Leafly was owned by cannabis-focused personal fairness group Privateer Holdings between 2012 and 2019.
The corporate provides shoppers methods to seek out weed shops to purchase the hashish strains they need, runs a pickup and supply service and posts opinions on totally different hashish merchandise.
Greater than half of all North American hashish dispensaries use Leafly’s platform for e-commerce, promoting and different companies.
Prospects of federal legalization and pandemic-led lockdowns have pushed up Leafly’s web site visits to greater than 220 million final 12 months, up 12% from 2019, making it the world’s most visited web site on weeds.
The deal, if accomplished, could be the most recent in a nascent sector that has caught the blank-check frenzy. Rival Weedmaps’ mother or father firm struck a blank-check deal in December to checklist on the Nasdaq.
Leafly intends to checklist on the Nasdaq beneath the ticker image ‘LFLY’, one of many folks stated.
Clean-check corporations are publicly traded firms that use the funds from their preliminary public choices to purchase personal corporations, taking them public within the course of.
Billionaire William “Beau” Wrigley Jr’s Parallel and Jay-Z backed Californian pot producer TPCO Holdings have additionally struck comparable offers to checklist their shares.
Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Sweta Singh and Arun Koyyur
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