CANNAINVESTOR Magazine October / November 2016 | Page 64

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On the positive side, the current and near-term world economic climate could benefit the cannabis sector. Due to the lack of fiscal policy worldwide, international monetary policy has been overused. Bankers continue to lower rates to spur economic activity resulting in negative interest rates in some parts of the world. As a result, the forecasts for future world economic growth continue to be revised downward by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This current environment may make it more difficult for investors to achieve the historic equity returns of over ten percent, which may push investors to seek the growth of the cannabis sector.

Something that is critical to the growth of cannabis and financing will be whether/when the sector is able to consistently complete initial public offerings (IPOs) and reasonable sized merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions. IPOs and M&A transactions have been critical to the growth of venture capital, software, telecommunication, biotechnology and other growth sectors in the U.S. Both these markets have proved to be valid endpoints for investors to harvest their investments in private companies. As of now, M&A activity in cannabis has been at a low level, but it’s increasing and there has never been a cannabis IPO on a U.S. exchange.

When an IPO window will begin to open for cannabis companies is anybody’s guess. The recent denial of uplisting to the NASDAQ by MassRoots, one of the leaders in the social media and mobile apps for the cannabis sector, doesn’t help shorten that timeline. Improving trends in both M&A and IPO transactions will be critical drivers for access to capital for private cannabis companies.

Despite the uncertainty, GEP is poised to ride the waves of change. “What makes us unique is our operational experience, FDA knowledge and technical experience to fashion successful solutions for clients. As well, our experience working with startups is critical to the work that we are doing in the industry, since most cannabis companies are also startups. We know what it takes to get through all of the initial hurdles toward becoming an established business.” It is the combination of these valuable skill sets that allows GEP to perform effective due diligence and work with some of the leading companies in the sector.

The following pages include brief summaries from our current clients. We believe they represent some of the leading companies in cannabis.

David Traylor

650-438-0318

[email protected]

Securities offered through registered representatives of Colorado Financial Service Corporation, Member FINRA/SIPC. Golden Eagle Partners and Colorado Financial Service Corporation are separate entities. OSJ Address: 304 Inverness Way S, Ste 355 Centennial Colorado 80112.

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