Good morning.
Looking north this morning, Canadian-based High Tide had itself quite a day yesterday. We take a look in the Big Deal.
Plus, our friends at Lit Alerts have a deep dive into the brands moving up the charts in Massachusetts.
Let’s get to it.
-JR, JB
Today’s newsletter is 1,103 words or about a 9-minute read.
THIS NEWSLETTER MADE POSSIBLE BY:
💡What’s the big deal?
HIGH TIDE
High Tide’s busy Monday 🌪️
What happened: High Tide agreed to acquire four Northern Helm stores in Ontario for $7.74 million.
The deal is structured as $3.2 million in assumed debt, 40% of the remainder in cash (~$1.83M), and 60% in High Tide shares (~$2.75M).
The purchase price works out to 4.5x the annualized EBITDA of the four stores for Q1 2026. The stores are in Bowmanville, Kingston, Courtice, and Oshawa, getting High Tide into three new Ontario markets and pushing its Ontario store count past 100.
Separately, High Tide secured credit approval for C$40 million in new senior secured credit facilities from BMO — a $25M revolving facility and a $15M delayed draw term loan — replacing its existing facility with connectFirst.
And the company reported second-quarter revenue of $179.3 million and adjusted EBITDA of $13.9 million. The company also flipped to net income of $24K — a reversal from a $2.8 million net loss the year prior.
What they're saying: "I am very happy to add the 4 Northern Helm stores as announced this morning,” CEO Raj Grover said.
“They are very strong performers and get us into three new markets. Revenue was $8.5MM annualized — a very strong average of $2.1MM per store — and EBITDA was $1.7MM. As usual we pay an EBITDA multiple that is highly accretive to our shareholders.”
Why it matters: Getting BMO, a major Canadian bank, to provide conventional senior secured financing is something most cannabis operators still struggle to do. It means materially cheaper capital and more room to keep buying, which seems to be the plan.
What's next: The Northern Helm deal needs Ontario’s approval before closing. The BMO facilities are expected to close within about 30 days. $HITI ( ▼ 2.6% )
Note: High Tide is a Cultivated Partner, and Northern Helm CEO David Côté is a friend of the newsletter. We’re happy to see our Cultivated partners and friends doing business!
📺 In case you missed it
Aurora Cannabis CEO Miguel Martin joined Jay and Jeremy on Cultivated Live Monday morning. They asked Martin about Aurora’s quarter, international medical cannabis, and whether big pharma is kicking the tires… you’ll want to hear his answer. $ACB ( ▼ 2.96% )
⏩ Quick hits
SAM's MA cannabis repeal ballot measure is going to voters 🗳️
Massachusetts' highest court cleared the way for a SAM-backed measure to repeal recreational cannabis legalization to appear on the November ballot, rejecting a legal challenge to its certification. The campaign has been dogged by accusations that signature gatherers misled voters by describing the measure as being about affordable housing or public parks — a fraud challenge that was separately dismissed earlier this year. Recent polls show 65% of Massachusetts residents support legalization.
Cannabis industry coalition forms to fight wage board law ⚖️
A broad statewide coalition of New York cannabis operators — farmers, processors, retailers, and medical cannabis companies — formed to oppose the recently passed cannabis wage board legislation, arguing it will raise prices, push consumers to the illicit market, and disproportionately harm the social equity licensees who make up 80% of the state's retail sector. The group is urging Gov. Hochul to veto the bill.
A new bill would let states trigger federal drug rescheduling ⚖️
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced legislation that would redefine "accepted medical use" under the Controlled Substances Act to include any drug a state has authorized and that local medical regulators recognize, effectively letting states force federal rescheduling by legalizing something first. The catch: it's a Democratic bill in a Republican Congress, so its prospects are dim, but it would codify the same state-use logic HHS applied during the Biden-era cannabis rescheduling review.
📊 Insights
LIT ALERTS
Challenger Brands in Massachusetts: A three-way tug of war
This week, our partners at Lit Alerts took a look at Challenger Brands in Massachusetts. Challenger Brands are those brands moving up the category leader boards, and knocking on the Top 10 doors.
A close look at Massachusetts Challenger Brands shows a three-way tug of war evolving.
Old Pal and Dialed In don't own a single dispensary in the state. Yet they're moving up the category charts.
Meanwhile, Theory Wellness — an employee-owned regional operator — is claiming two top-trending spots with pre-rolls and edibles.
Root & Bloom, a craft grower from Salisbury, is outpacing national brands by focusing on hand-trimmed, terpene-rich flower.
The pattern: Massachusetts isn't a winner-take-most MSO market anymore. Asset-light brands scale fast. Regional powerhouses move distribution like nationals. Craft operators own their niche.
The real insight? Success now depends on which lane you own.
🤝 Deals, launches, partnerships
Vireo agrees to acquire C21 Investments in all-stock deal 💰
Vireo Growth agreed to acquire C21 Investments in an all-stock deal, with C21 shareholders receiving 0.023052 of a Vireo share for each C21 share held. The acquisition adds 15 Nevada dispensaries and 158,000 square feet of cultivation and manufacturing capacity to Vireo's portfolio — its third major deal in recent months, following the Bridgewell and Schwazze acquisitions. $VREOF ( ▼ 3.69% )
Dutchie launches Consumer AI 🤖
Dutchie launched Consumer AI, a suite of four AI tools built into its existing POS and e-commerce platform: a Voice AI phone receptionist, an Agentic Commerce shopping agent, a Register Co-Pilot for budtenders, and a Consumer Pulse reputation dashboard.
And more:
Avicanna raised C$300,000 from Splash Beverage Group in a non-brokered private placement, issuing 2 million common shares and 1 million warrants.
🧳 People moves
Jason Pernell confirmed on X that he will be President of Harvest Enterprises, overseeing our medical and adult-use operations in AZ, CT, MD, and OH.
🔬 Science & research
Stoned rats get the munchies. Scientists think it could help people who can't eat 🔬
Researchers from the University of Calgary and Washington State University found that cannabis-exposed rats ate significantly more than sober ones, even when already full, mirroring results from a parallel study in which high human subjects did the same. University of Calgary neuroscientist Dr. Matthew Hill says the findings have real implications for chemotherapy patients, whose nausea can trigger lasting food aversions, and potentially for people with eating disorders though he called the latter "highly speculative."
📰 What we’re reading
Oversupply and taxes batter cannabis producers | Journal of Business