Cannabis SPAC Achari Ventures Goes Public, Pricing Its IPO At $100M

The newest cannabis special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: AVHIU) went public Friday. The company priced its initial public offering of 10 million units at $10.00 per unit. Its units are listed on the Nasdaq Global Market and started trading under the ticker symbol "AVHIU" on October 15, 2021.

The New York-based company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Achari Ventures noted that its original focus will be on tracking acquisition opportunities with an ancillary (non-plant touching) company operating in the cannabis industry, including equipment, hardware, technology/software, or hydroponics.

Its sponsors include Achari Sponsor Holdings I LLC an affiliate of Achari Ventures, and is led by Vikas Desai, CEO and chairman of the board of directors; Mitch Hara COO and CFO and Merrick Friedman, CIO and director. Achari Ventures is a leading early investment firm focused on the cannabis industry. 

"Our team has been an active and early participant in the cannabis industry, having identified, early on, its significant potential for explosive growth," Vikas Desai, CEO of Achari stated. "We believe a unique opportunity exists to partner with an established and successful company in the space, leveraging our capital, industry and operating expertise to rapidly scale its business as the cannabis regulatory environment matures."

IPO Details
Under the IPO, each unit consists of one share of common stock and one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase three-quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. Because the warrants may only be exercised for whole numbers of shares, only a number in multiples of four warrants may be exercised at any given time. Once the securities comprising the units begin trading separately, the Company expects that the common stock and redeemable warrants will be listed on the Nasdaq under the symbols "AVHI" and "AVHIW," respectively.

Chardan is serving as the sole book-running manager. Reed Smith LLP acted as counsel to the Company, and White and Williams LLP acted as counsel to Chardan. The Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,500,000 units at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments if any.

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