'Another Important Milestone': Dispensary Operator Harborside Moves Closer To Going Public

Harborside has taken significant step toward going public in Canada.

The California-based cannabis retail brand's parent company FLRish, Inc. recently announced that it entered into a definitive merger agreement with the Canadian branded product maker Lineage Grow Company BUDD. If approved by the Canadian Securities Exchange, the reverse takeover of Lineage by Harborside will be complete.

Lineage would then change its name to Harborside Inc. The stock symbol HBOR has been reserved in preparation for the change. Additionally, Harborside intends to hold an offering of subscription receipts in a private placement that would occur before the closing of the RTO. The offering could raise up to CA $70 million ($52.8 million). 

Public Trading Expected In Q2 

The merger is “another important milestone on Harborside’s pathway to the public markets," said Steve DeAngelo, Harborside's co-founder and chairman emeritus. 

The company was one of the first six cannabis ventures licensed in the U.S., he said. 

“The Lineage merger sets the stage for us to exponentially expand the reach of both our business organization and the values we stand for.”

In the time that Andrew Berman has been Harborside's CEO, the company has completed a $6.5-million Series A financing round led by Cresco Capital Partners and a $26-million Series B.

If approved by the CSE, Berman said he expects Harborside to go public in Q2. The merger with Lineage expands Harborside's brand with three additional stores and a grow facility, he said. 

If everything goes according to plan, Harborside plans to drive its retail and wholesale business off the production from its stores and farms, Berman said. 

“I am very much focused on increasing the sales growth we’ve seen on a top-line basis and making sure I’m delivering profitability on the bottom, because that is a critical piece of what we’re doing.”

With the merger, Harborside intends to cement its name further in the fabric of the industry, the CEO said.

“We’ve been doing this for a long time, and I want to make sure we’re continuing to do it for a long time." 

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