High Times Merger Aims to Take Company Public

On Thursday, High Times Holding Corp., publisher of High Times and a leading voice of the cannabis community since 1974, announced its merger with Origo Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, in a move to take the company public.

Since the brand’s recent acquisition by Oreva Capital, High Times has begun to position itself to better capitalize on its robust future growth, taking steps to broaden the company’s three primary segments: events, licensing and media.

Given the rapidly expanding acceptance and legalization of cannabis, High Times believes access to capital and an elevated profile, via its anticipated public company listing, will enable it to expand the brand, while funding new business opportunities that leverage and support nationwide medical and recreational usage initiatives.

“High Times is one of few household names in the cannabis industry. We believe that the barriers to entry are substantial, given the respect and trust associated with our brand that comes from informing and entertaining people for over 40 years,” said Adam Levin, CEO of High Times. “As a leading authority in a rapidly growing and evolving industry, we believe the public market is the best vehicle for capturing and funding substantial market opportunities and championing the innovations emerging across the globe in this industry.”

Origa’s CEO Edward J. Fred echoed Levin’s sentiments, stating: “We believe High Times has an important mix of qualities essential for success. High Times is a highly-recognized brand in a rapidly growing industry that has a very engaged base and increasing opportunities to leverage that following.”

Noting that the merger with Origo should substantially improve High Times’ balance sheet and provide additional future growth capital, the company divulged a portion of its exciting growth strategy, including: the expansion of events in new and existing geographies; leveraging the brand name by offering licensing and branding opportunities to events, dispensaries, lounges/hotels, retail stores, seed companies and consumer product companies; and utilizing new and existing affinity-based digital platforms to create the definitive destination for cannabis knowledge, while also offering expanded e-commerce, social media, advertising and data collection opportunities.

Post-merger, the current High Times management team, led by Levin, will continue to run the combined company, while two current members of the Origo Board (or their designees) will join High Times as independent directors.

The full press release—including all types of fun investor lingo and legal jargon—can be found HERE.

It’s long. But if you can make it through, the 358-word section entitled, “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements,” is worth a read—if only to empathize with that one lawyer or paralegal in your life, who likes to complain about all the tediously acute and scrupulous copy he or she has to write.

Our suggestion? Light one up, kick back and get ready to watch all the good High Times plans to bring to the cannabis community.

Seriously, we’re just getting started! The team has been working harder than ever to turn High Times into a transformative global brand and to transcend the normal media business models during this time of massive marijuana innovation

Again—Find the Full Press Release HERE—for any unanswered questions or concerns.