MedReleaf (TSX: LEAF) Begins Trading Sharply Below IPO Price

The Canadian cannabis sector’s largest IPO to date is a dud. The $100mm MedReleaf (TSX: LEAF) IPO was priced at $9.50 but opened for trading at $7.51 before trading as low as $6.81. The stock has traded almost 500K shares in the first 10 minutes of trading at a volume-weighted average price of $7.26 and a high of $7.77.

The company sold 80% of the shares, while existing shareholders sold the balance. At the offering price, the company was valued at just under $900mm. In the first three quarters of Fiscal 2017, it reported sales of approximately $30mm, making it one of the largest LPs in terms of market share, though the company reported a sequential decline in sales in Q3 ending 12/31 after new reimbursement rules for veterans went into effect in November.

Breaking News by Alan Brochstein, CFA
Alan Brochstein, CFA
Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as founder of online community 420 Investor, the first and still largest due diligence platform focused on the publicly-traded stocks in the cannabis industry. With his extensive network in the cannabis community, Alan continues to find new ways to connect the industry and facilitate its sustainable growth. At New Cannabis Ventures, he is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before shifting his focus to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst following over two decades in research and portfolio management. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 at Seeking Alpha, where he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a frequent source to the media, including the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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