Canadian investors see hemp as way into US markets

The hemp industry continues to be a top investment target for well-capitalized Canadian cannabis companies.

But that doesn’t mean they’re all looking to grow the plant.

Organigram CEO Greg Engel, whose New Brunswick-based company began trading this week on the Nasdaq, says CBD offers a big opportunity to enter U.S. markets. However, he added his company doesn’t plan to start growing hemp.

“We don’t want to be a cultivator,” he told financial-news television network Cheddar. “There is lots of hemp cultivation happening.”

Other Canadian investments in U.S. hemp this week included:

• The closing of a $30 million deal for Sol Global of Toronto to buy a majority stake in Tennessee hemp grower and CBD manufacturer Bluhen Botanicals.
• A Vancouver cannabis real-estate firm that owns several Washington state marijuana companies, Bougainville Ventures, acquiring Oregon hemp grower Worm Castings Farm for $350,000 and some stock.

The hemp-derived CBD market offers a legal path to U.S. cannabis consumers for Canadian companies looking to establish a toehold here.