對(duì)日趨成熟的大麻市場(chǎng)來(lái)說(shuō)，今年是個(gè)拐點(diǎn)。大麻行業(yè)金融和戰(zhàn)略咨詢公司Viridian Capital Advisors提供的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，從年初至今，大麻類公司已經(jīng)融資近138億美元，而2017年只有35億美元。

過(guò)去12個(gè)月大麻行業(yè)流入資金激增的動(dòng)力來(lái)自加拿大國(guó)家層面以及密歇根、俄克拉荷馬和猶他等美國(guó)幾個(gè)州在立法上的變化。公眾越發(fā)支持大麻合法化，而公眾支持力度的不斷增大讓投資者更有信心來(lái)支持這個(gè)領(lǐng)域中的企業(yè)，也促使大型飲料和煙草公司在大麻產(chǎn)品上賭一把。

大麻類公司所籌資金

Viridian Capital Advisors的數(shù)據(jù)表明，2018年全球大麻行業(yè)的上市和非上市公司已經(jīng)融資近138億美元

所籌資金增多的主要原因是融資規(guī)模不斷擴(kuò)大——2018年單輪融資平均金額從2017年的810萬(wàn)美元增至2360萬(wàn)美元。

Viridian的副總裁哈里森·菲利普斯說(shuō)：“一旦有公司拿到1億美元并把這些資金投入這個(gè)領(lǐng)域，從而在收購(gòu)競(jìng)標(biāo)中獲得競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力，其他經(jīng)營(yíng)者為了與之抗衡也會(huì)籌集類似數(shù)額的資金。這就形成了某種良性循環(huán)，讓這些公司的融資額不斷增多?！?/p>

對(duì)大麻行業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō)，2018年最引人注意的趨勢(shì)可能就是大型酒類和煙草公司爭(zhēng)相奪取這個(gè)市場(chǎng)的份額。其中一大亮點(diǎn)是生產(chǎn)科羅娜啤酒的星座集團(tuán)斥資40億美元參股Canopy Growth。另外，位于丹佛的啤酒公司摩森康勝宣布與加拿大的大麻產(chǎn)品制造商Hydropothecary Corporation建立合資企業(yè)。擁有萬(wàn)寶路品牌的奧馳亞表示將對(duì)設(shè)在多倫多的大麻生產(chǎn)商克羅諾斯集團(tuán)投資18億美元。

全球數(shù)據(jù)研究機(jī)構(gòu)PitchBook稱，2018年美國(guó)大麻合資公司的價(jià)值比2017年增長(zhǎng)了一倍多，大麻領(lǐng)域的私募股權(quán)投資也上升了三分之一以上。隨著合法醫(yī)用大麻市場(chǎng)的發(fā)展，2018年最大的一些合資及私募交易出現(xiàn)在了美國(guó)醫(yī)療保健行業(yè)的大麻公司身上，包括Verano Holdings、Surterra和Cura Cannabis Solutions。

2018年10月，加拿大成為第二個(gè)休閑用大麻徹底合法化的國(guó)家（烏拉圭于2013年實(shí)現(xiàn)休閑大麻全國(guó)合法化）。2016和2017年，加拿大相關(guān)公司的融資額持續(xù)上升，原因是醫(yī)用大麻項(xiàng)目擴(kuò)大以及加拿大總理賈斯廷·特魯多表示有意將成人使用大麻合法化。

菲利普斯認(rèn)為，2019年可能成為驗(yàn)證之年，因?yàn)橐呀?jīng)獲得投資的加拿大公司需要在前幾個(gè)月拿出它們?cè)谛碌某扇擞檬袌?chǎng)上所取得的成效，這樣今后才能籌集到更多資金。

在美國(guó)，大麻在聯(lián)邦層面仍不合法，跨州貿(mào)易被禁。而許多公司都打算在幾個(gè)孤立市場(chǎng)，也就是大麻已經(jīng)合法化的州開展業(yè)務(wù)。它們或者到別的州復(fù)制自己的設(shè)施，或者在那里收購(gòu)已經(jīng)成立的小公司，這些都會(huì)促使它們?nèi)谫Y。

菲利普斯指出，因此每一輪能融資1億美元左右的將是較大的跨州經(jīng)營(yíng)商，比如MedMen、Green Thumb、Cresco、Palliatech和Columbia Care，它們都已經(jīng)在多個(gè)市場(chǎng)布局。

他說(shuō)，較小的美國(guó)公司則為提高品牌知名度而繼續(xù)籌集資金。涉足大麻二酚產(chǎn)品線的新公司開始獲得投資的時(shí)間遠(yuǎn)早于2018年農(nóng)業(yè)法案的通過(guò)。該法案于上周四獲特朗普總統(tǒng)簽字生效，也正式給予漢麻（hemp）合法身份。漢麻是大麻的一種，有提煉大麻二酚等多種工業(yè)用途，但精神活性物質(zhì)四氫大麻醇的含量不足0.3%。

Viridian的總裁及創(chuàng)始人斯科特·格雷珀預(yù)計(jì)，盡管今年增長(zhǎng)迅速，但只要美國(guó)市場(chǎng)的投資和收購(gòu)交易次數(shù)持續(xù)上升，2019年的增速甚至?xí)臁ｉT研究大麻產(chǎn)業(yè)的投資集團(tuán)ArcView Group估算，到2022年美國(guó)大麻市場(chǎng)銷售額將達(dá)到234億美元。

大麻合法化得到更多公眾支持可能會(huì)在2019年的立法中體現(xiàn)出來(lái)——國(guó)會(huì)議員們正在考慮提議允許大麻公司獲得聯(lián)邦存款保險(xiǎn)公司支持的銀行賬號(hào)。美國(guó)衛(wèi)生部部長(zhǎng)已經(jīng)表示，聯(lián)邦政府可能會(huì)調(diào)整大麻法規(guī)，允許在這方面進(jìn)行更多的醫(yī)療研究。

格雷珀說(shuō)：“直到6個(gè)月前，大多數(shù)行業(yè)活動(dòng)中的大部分還都在美國(guó)市場(chǎng)以外進(jìn)行，原因就是聯(lián)邦層面不合法、沒(méi)有商業(yè)銀行服務(wù)和缺乏跨州貿(mào)易等一直存在的問(wèn)題。更大的資金池，無(wú)論是公共的還是私人的，現(xiàn)在開始放心地認(rèn)為美國(guó)將成為世界上最大的市場(chǎng)?！保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Charlie

審校：夏林

This year has been a turning point in the maturing marijuana market.

Cannabis-related companies raised nearly $13.8 billion so far this year, compared to just $3.5 billion in 2017, according to data from Viridian Capital Advisors, a financial and strategic advisory firm for the cannabis industry.

The spike in capital flowing into marijuana businesses in the last 12 months was driven by legislative changes both at the national level in Canada and at the state level in U.S. states like Michigan, Oklahoma and Utah. As public support for legalization grows, and growing public support for legalization—shifts that have given investors more confidence about backing companies in the space and enticed big players in the beverage and tobacco industries to make bets on cannabis products.

Capital Raised by Cannabis-Related Companies

Public and private companies in the global cannabis industry raised nearly $13.8 billion in 2018, according to Viridian Capital Advisors

The surge in funding was largely driven by increasing deal size—the average deal rose to $23.6 million in 2018, up from $8.1 million last year.

“Once one company raises $100 million and starts to deploy that into the space, to be competitive in the acquisition bidding process, other operators have to raise similar amounts of capital to be competitive,” says Harrison Phillips, vice president at Viridian. “That creates a sort of positive feedback loop where these companies raise more and more capital.”

Perhaps the most notable cannabis trend of 2018 was the rush of big alcohol and big tobacco companies taking stakes in market. A splashiest was Coronoa-maker Constellation Brands’ $4 billion stake in Canopy Growth. Denver brewer Molson Coors, meanwhile, announced a joint venture with The Hydropothecary Corporation, a Canadian cannabis producer, and Marlboro maker Altria said it would invest $1.8 billion in Toronto-based Cronos Group.

The value of venture capital deals in the U.S. marijuana industry more than doubled this year compared to 2017, according to data from Pitchbook, and private equity investments in cannabis increased by more than one-third. Some of the largest VC and PE deals in 2018 went to American cannabis companies in the healthcare sector, including Verano Holdings, Surterra, and Cura Cannabis Solutions, as legal medical marijuana markets expanded.

In October, Canada became the second country to legalize recreational marijuana nationwide (after Uruguay in 2013). The amount raised by companies in the country has already been on the upswing in 2016 and 2017 as the medical cannabis program grew and prime minister Justin Trudeau announced the intent to legalize adult use.

2019 will likely be a proving year, said Phillips, as Canadian companies that have received investments will need to deliver results in the new adult use market in the early part of next year if they hope to be in a position to raise more money going forward.

In the U.S., where marijuana remains federally illegal and interstate commerce is banned, many of the companies attempting to operate in more than one of the isolated markets where marijuana has been legalized have been driven to raise funds this year as they’ve moved to either duplicate their facilities in new states or to acquire smaller businesses already established in the new region.

For this reason, it’s the larger, multi-state operators like MedMen, Green Thumb, Cresco, Palliatech, Columbia Care, all of which have already built their businesses in multiple markets, that are raising those $100 million-or so rounds, Phillips said.

Smaller U.S. companies continue to raise money to increase brand awareness, he said, and new ventures in CBD (or cannabidiol) product lines have drawn investments this year as well ahead of the 2018 Farm Bill passage. President Trump signed the bill into law on last Thursday, officially legalizing hemp. The hemp plant, which has multiple industrial uses including extracting CBD, is a variety of cannabis plant with less than 0.3% of the psychoactive THC (or tetrahydrocannabinol) compound.

Even given this year’s growth, Viridian president and founder Scott Greiper predicts that 2019 will be even bigger as far as the number of investments and acquisitions in the U.S. market, which is expected to generate $23.4 billion in sales by 2022, according to Arcview Research.

The growing public support for legalization may begin to show up in legislation in 2019 as lawmakers consider a bill to allow marijuana companies to access FDIC-backed bank accounts. The U.S. surgeon general has also indicated that the federal government may move toward rescheduling cannabis to permit more medical research.

“Up until about 6 months ago, the majority of most of the activity was outside the U.S. market because of the continued issue with federal illegality and lack of commercial banking and lack of interstate commerce,” Greiper said. “Larger pools of capital, public and private, are starting to get comfortable that the U.S. market will become the largest market in the world.”