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Investors bludgeoned Tilray Inc. stock Friday, sending shares of the Canadian cannabis producer down roughly 33% after the company offered investors juicy terms to raise $90.4 million from an equity sale.
Tilray’s TLRY, -35.04% fresh infusion of cash comes amid a broad market carnage, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +3.86% and the S&P 500 index SPX, +3.70% suffered their biggest single-day losses since the October 1987 crash.
According to data from Viridian Capital Advisors, a cannabis-focused investment bank, capital raises have remained slow in the sector for a third straight week that ended March 6. Last week, the bank tracked five raises that totalled $8 million versus 15 raises that brought in $2.1 billion a year ago, though last year’s data was boosted by Altria Group Inc.’s MO, +7.02% C$2.4 billion investment in Cronos Group Inc. CRON, +12.56% CRON, +11.04%
Tilray said Friday that it had priced a $90.4 million stock offering at $4.76 a share. The deal included an attached warrant with an exercise price of $5.95 a share that investors can sell beginning six months after it is issued. The whole warrants have a five year expiry.
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The company said it expects the deal to close March 17 and Canaccord Genuity is the sole book-running agent on the issue. Tilray said it planned to use the cash for general corporate purposes.
Tilray went public at $17 a share in 2018, months ahead of Canada legalization recreational cannabis use. The company’s shares briefly balooned, touching $300 in intraday trading in September, 2018.
Shares in the cannabis company have fallen 94% in the past year, as the S&P 500 index has dropped 10.2%. Cannabis companies have struggled after a slower-than-expected rollout of legal weed in Canada that has allowed the black market to flourish. Companies are now being forced into dilutive financings to keep their businesses going.
