Canopy Growth Corp. – Canada’s largest cannabis company – has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange, Bloomberg News reports. If approved, it would become the first cannabis producer to trade on the exchange.
CEO Bruce Linton said he planned to list on the Nasdaq earlier this year but that he pulled back to finalize the deal with Constellation Brands, Inc. Constellation, the U.S. distributor of Corona beer and Svedka vodka, agreed to acquire a 9.9 percent stake in Canopy for about $191 million. He said choosing the NYSE over the Nasdaq adds more credibility to the company.
“Ultimately one of them is on Wall Street and has a bit more history and cache, and the neighbors on it are pretty substantive companies. … One of the primary drivers of this listing is, as we are expanding globally, having U.S. institutional investors helps. I think the investment community has to drop the pot jokes and talk about the investment grade opportunity.” – Linton to Bloomberg
The company currently trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol WEED. Linton said the company expects to list on the NYSE under the CGC symbol before the end of the month.