Spiritleaf hopes cash injection will help fuel expansion plans

The Calgary-based parent company of Spiritleaf retail cannabis stores has closed another private placement offering with a UK private equity firm in a deal they hope will help them expand their presence in Ontario.

The deal, between Inner Spirit Holdings and an unnamed private equity firm, sees $720,000 raised through the issuance of six-million common shares at $0.12. It’s the third private placement financing with the UK firm, which now owns 9.7 percent of Inner Spirit and has invested $2.4 million in the Calgary company.

Inner Spirit has a market cap of $19.37 million, and according to a news release announcing the deal, has “more than $4.5 million in cash on hand to fuel an expansion that includes adding corporate stores in key markets.”

“At the start of this month, the Ontario market had approximately 140 cannabis retail stores serving a population of 14.7 million residents, which points to a major market opportunity for cannabis retailers,” Darren Bondar, president and CEO of Inner Spirit, said in the news release.

Spiritleaf’s network of 58 stores operate in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.