Verano Lists on Canadian Securities Exchange

Chicago, Illinois-based Verano Holdings Corp. began trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) on Wednesday, following a reverse takeover of, and merger with, Majesta Minerals Inc. The company will trade under the VRNO symbol.

In the reverse merger, completed last week, the company raised $100 million through a subscription offering that valued Verano at $2.9 billion. The deal included a merger with Florida’s Alternative Medical Enterprises. The company now operates in 14 states – active in 11 – under the Zen Leaf and MÜV brands.

MÜV is both the dispensary name and the company’s branded products.

Verano CEO and Co-Founder George Archos said the public listing provides the firm “with access to capital to execute our growth plan, including the organic growth of our retail presence and product portfolio in addition to the pursuit of strategic acquisitions, with the goal of being a top three operator in the states in which we operate.”

Verano is the third Chicago-headquartered cannabis company to list on the CSE, joining Green Thumb and Cresco Labs, the Chicago Tribune reports. Choice Consolidation, also based in the Windy City and led by former Cresco President Joe Caltabiano, filed an updated prospectus on February 12 seeking to raise $150 million through an initial public offering also for listing on the CSE.

In a Green Thumb IPO last week registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission an undisclosed institutional investor bought $100 million worth of the subordinate voting shares, according to the Tribune.

Verano launched in Illinois as a medical cannabis company in 2014.