Tilray

Tilray is a Canadian pharmaceutical and cannabis company, incorporated in the United States with primary operations headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Tilray also has operations in Australia, New Zealand,[1][2] Germany, Portugal,[3] and Latin America.[4]

Tilray
TypePublic
NASDAQ: TLRY
IndustryCannabis, Pharmaceutical
Founded2013
FounderBrendan Kennedy
Headquarters,
Number of employees
750+
WebsiteTilray.com

In December 2020, the company announced a merger with Aphria, and will operate under the Tilray name and its ticker symbol on NASDAQ, TLRY.[5]

History

Founded in 2014, Tilray was originally incorporated under the umbrella of Seattle-based Privateer Holdings.[6] In December 2016, Tilray was certified for good manufacturing practices.[7]

In September 2018, Tilray became the first Canadian cannabis company to legally export medical cannabis to the U.S. for a clinical trial.[8] In December 2018, the company signed a deal with Novartis subsidiary Sandoz to sell, distribute and co-brand Tilray's non-smokeable/non-combustible medical cannabis products in legal markets worldwide.[9] On June 19, 2018, Tilray announced the launch of High Park Company which would operate in the adult recreational cannabis market to establish unique adult-use brands in Canada upon its legalization.[10]

Initial public offering

In July 2018, Tilray became the first cannabis company to trade publicly on a major U.S. stock exchange,[11] opening on the NASDAQ exchange at a price of $17 per share, which increased in September 2018 to $214 per share, and then descended to $29 per share by August 2019.[12][13] The IPO raised US$153 million.[14]

Strategic partnerships and acquisitions

In 2018, Tilray announced it had entered into global alliance with Sandoz, a division of Novartis to co-brand and distribute non-combustible medical cannabis products in global markets where it is legally authorized. The Globe and Mail dubbed this partnership as ‘big-pharma’s first foray into cannabis’.[15] 

Also in 2018, Tilray announced a $100-million joint venture with the world's largest brewer, AbInBev to research non-alcohol tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD)-infused beverages, through their respective subsidiaries, Labatt Breweries and High Park Company.[16]

In 2019, Tilray signed a $250 million revenue-sharing deal with U.S. based brand company, Authentic Brands Group, to leverage ABG brand names, such as Juicy Couture, Greg Norman, and Nine West to create cannabis products. ABG has a portfolio of over 50 brands.[17]

In February 2019, Tilray acquired Manitoba Harvest, a hemp foods manufacturer, for $317 million from Compass Diversified Holdings.[18] The acquisition allowed Tilray to use Manitoba Harvest's retail distribution network to enter the U.S. CBD market.[19] Manitoba Harvest's products are available in approximately 13,000 U.S. stores and 3,600 in Canada.[18]

Also in 2019, Tilray entered into an agreement with Natura Naturals Holdings which owns 155,000 square feet of licensed cultivation greenhouses in Leamington, Ontario.[20] The acquisition doubled the cultivation ability of the company in Canada.[21] In May 2020, Tilray announced closure of the High Park Gardens site (previously Natura Naturals) for cost reductions.[22]

In July 2019, Tilray acquired U.K.-based Smith & Sinclair to develop CBD-infused edibles.[23] In August 2019, Tilray acquired Alberta cannabis retailer, Four20.[24]

Merger with Aphria

On 15 December 2020, Aphria conducted a reverse acquisition of Tilray, creating the largest multinational cannabis company by revenue.[5] The chief executive officer (CEO) of Aphria, Irwin Simon, stated that the merger strategy was to capture Tilray's business assets and public trading exposure in the United States and its free trade abilities in Europe, enabling potential for becoming a global operation.[5] Irwin was named as CEO and chairman of the board for the merged company, and Tilray CEO, Brendan Kennedy, will be a member of the board of directors.[5] The merged companies will keep Tilray's name and trade under the Tilray ticker symbol, TLRY, on the NASDAQ exchange.[5]

By combining assets, the new Tilray company will develop craft beer and cannabis-infused beverages in partnership with Anheuser-Busch InBev, and have branded hemp and cannabidiol products.[5] According to one source, the world market potential for cannabis products is $94 billion by 2025.[5]

Preliminary clinical research

In partnership with University of Sydney, NSW Government, Chris O'Brien Lifehouse, Tilray participated in a clinical trial testing the efficacy and tolerability of medical cannabis as a possible treatment for the side effects of chemotherapy.[25] Led by The Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto, Canada, Tilray provided a cannabidiol (CBD) oil product available in Canada to test the efficacy and tolerability of medical cannabis oil as a possible treatment for pediatric epilepsy (Dravet syndrome).[26] In partnership with the University of British Columbia, Tilray provided medical cannabis products used to test medical cannabis as a possible treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.[27] In partnership with the Grupo Español de Investigación en Neurooncología GEINO, in Spain, Tilray supplied medical cannabis products for the trial testing the efficacy and tolerability of medical cannabis as a possible treatment for glioblastoma.[28]

In 2019, Tilray signed an agreement with Cannamedical Pharma GmbH to export $3.3 million worth of medical cannabis from its Portugal facility to Germany, marking Tilray's first export from Tilray Portugal Unipessoal, Lda.[29] Tilray also has a research partnership with Coimbra University in Portugal.[30]

In August 2019, Tilray announced a partnership with New York University to study the potential ability of CBD to treat alcohol use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.[31] In partnership with New York University, Tilray supplied CBD for a clinical trial studying its possible efficacy for treating disorders caused by breast cancer treatments.[32]

References

  1. SmallCapPower (August 8, 2018). "Tilray Stands Out with its Global Supply Agreements".
  2. October 2, Published; 2017 (October 2, 2017). "Tilray exports medical cannabis to New Zealand for national dispersal". Marijuana Business Daily.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. Commodities; Agriculture (September 7, 2017). "Tilray to build $30 million EU cannabis production operation in Portugal - Financial Post".
  4. Schultz, SA Editor Clark (December 3, 2018). "Tilray sets up Latin American subsidiary". Seeking Alpha.
  5. Kary, Tiffany (December 15, 2020). "Aphria, Tilray combine to create biggest cannabis company". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  6. Derek Hall (June 20, 2018). "Seattle's Privateer launches $100M IPO for its Canadian marijuana company". Seattle Times. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  7. "Tilray, Inc". US Securities and Exchange Commission. December 31, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  8. "Canadian producer Tilray to export medical cannabis to U.S. for clinical trial - Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. September 18, 2018.
  9. Borchard D (Dec. 2018). "Tilray Signs Deal With Big Pharma Company Sandoz". Green Market Report. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  10. "Tilray Launches High Park Company to Produce and Distribute Adult-Use Cannabis in Canada". www.tilray.ca. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  11. Cherney, Max A. "Tilray IPO: Five things to know about the first pot company to go public on Nasdaq". MarketWatch.
  12. "Tilray shows the highs, lows of investing in pot". Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  13. "How the Canadian cannabis company Tilray became worth more than American Airlines". Vox. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  14. "Shares of pot company Tilray surge in first day of trading on Nasdaq". CBC. July 19, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  15. Cannabis (March 19, 2018). "Big Pharma's first foray into cannabis arrives with Sandoz-Tilray deal | Financial Post". Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  16. "Brewer AB InBev partners with Tilray to tap cannabis drink market". Reuters. December 19, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  17. Cannabis (January 15, 2019). "Tilray signs creative $250-million revenue-sharing deal with U.S. brand powerhouse ABG | Financial Post". Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  18. Kaiserman, Beth. "Tilray Eyes CBD Food And Drink Market With Manitoba Harvest Acquisition". Forbes. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  19. Israel, Solomon (May 31, 2019). "Manitoba Harvest enters 'wild, wild west' CBD market in U.S." Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  20. "Tilray® to Acquire Natura Naturals Holdings Inc. for up to C$70 Million Subject to Performance Milestones". Tilray. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  21. "Tilray to buy Natura for up to $70M, doubling Canadian cannabis growing capacity | CTV News". www.ctvnews.ca. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  22. "High Park Gardens Licensed Cannabis Greenhouse In Leamington To Close | windsoriteDOTcaNews". windsorite.ca. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  23. LaVito, Angelica (July 23, 2019). "Tilray acquires boozy candy company Smith & Sinclair to develop CBD edibles". CNBC. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  24. "Tilray signs deal to acquire Alberta cannabis retailer Four20". BNN Bloomberg. The Canadian Press. August 29, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  25. "Medicinal Cannabis Factsheet" (PDF).
  26. "First Canadian paediatric study of mixed THC/CBD cannabis oil shows promise for children with drug-resistant epilepsy". SickKids. The Hospital for Sick Children. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  27. "UBC & Tilray Launch Clinical Trial to Study Medical Cannabis & PTSD - Business Examiner". www.businessexaminer.ca. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  28. "Tilray CEO talks about medicinal marijuana company's future in Nanaimo and globally". Nanaimo News Bulletin. July 20, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  29. Cherney, Max A. "Tilray signs first deal to supply pot to Europe out of new Portugal facility". MarketWatch. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  30. Freeman, Daphne (December 19, 2019). "Tilray partners with Coimbra University to study medical cannabis". Born2Invest. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  31. LaVito, Angelica (August 8, 2019). "Canadian pot company Tilray ships CBD to US for clinical trials on alcohol and PTSD". CNBC. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  32. Gregory Calderone (October 24, 2019). "Gregory Calderone". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
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