Terra Tech Corp. has become the first cannabis-focused agriculture company to be publicly traded on the stock market. Terra Tech, “a vertically integrated cannabis-focused agriculture company,” hit the ground running following the company’s acquisition of Blum Oakland, a retail medical cannabis dispensary located in Oakland, California.
The floating of a company that produces and sells marijuana is an historic event for the nation, and it may be the sign of a budding market. “Today, we can proudly claim the title of the only US-based, publicly-traded company that touches every aspect of the cannabis life cycle — from cultivation, to extraction, to branding, and now, with the acquisition of Blum, to retail sale,” Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech said in a press release.
This is a big deal for Terra Tech — the company hopes that the acquisition of Blum Oakland will boost revenue. Blum Oakland has more than 42,000 registered patients, serving 1,000 daily. Blum Oakland also harvests approximately $14 million in annual revenue, according to the Terra Tech press release announcing the merger. The legal marijuana industry brought in $2.4 billion in 2014, and projections for growth are upwards of $10 billion by 2020, according to news reports.
One highlight of the acquisition is Blum Oakland’s fully operational and completely legal grow facility. Since its establishment in 2012, the company is one of very few dispensaries in California that is permitted to cultivate and sell marijuana.
A permit to cultivate and sell marijuana represents the potential for significant monetary gains if California legalizes recreational marijuana. “We have always prided ourselves on working with those at the forefront of the legal cannabis industry and this new partnership with Terra Tech is an exciting step forward for the Blum team,” Salwa Ibrahim, executive director of Blum Oakland said in a press release.
Medical marijuana is now legal in 23 states, while four states (Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Alaska) and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana use. The marijuana industry is booming, and investors are taking notice. With billions of dollars expected to roll in over the next five years, everyone, including state governments, are looking for a seat at the table.
Bank executives are also trying to cash in on the “green rush.” In 2014, John Sullivan, CEO of First Security Bank of Nevada took investing in marijuana to his board of directors and the bank soon became a go-to for the marijuana industry, when other banks were not prepared to take the risk.
Now that a cannabis-focused agriculture company is being traded on Wall Street, what do you think the future holds for pot?
-The Alternative Daily
Sources:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/trtc?mod=MW_story_hoverquote
http://www.terratechcorp.com/news-media/press-releases/detail/137/terra-tech-and-blum-announce-definitive-merger-agreement
http://blumoak.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/marijuana-grows-up_b_6551216.html
https://news.yahoo.com/bank-weed-open-business-080000686.html
