Stately’s long road to public finally finds an onramp with Gold Flora/TCPO (GRAM.NEO)

Good things happen in sunny Costa Mesa, California and, today, one of those good things happened for a certain group of cannabis investors.

Longtime readers may recall Trent Kitsch, who founded Doja Cannabis (which would be consumed by Canopy Growth Corp for $400m), had bounced to his next venture not long after that deal closed in a US company called Stately.

There was no shortage of folks who were ready to follow Kitsch to his next fat win, your humble writer included, and thus we dutifully bought into a raise and waited.

And waited.

See, here’s the thing – in the time between Trent’s big exit and his next big entry, the weed market had grown ornery. The fattest fat cats had run out of borrowing potential and raises weren’t raising much anymore and business wasn’t growing – and hasn’t grown since. So Kitsch did what one might expect, and he held on for a bit before pulling the trigger.

There were other issues of course – getting through due diligence while straddling a border isn’t easy, and the matured California market was the first part of the US weed space to compress prices. Rules kept changing, targets kept faltering, and in Canada the situation was many times worse.

So, here’s the downside: People were stuck in the stock for a couple of years.

Here’s the upside: If they’d invested in any other weed stock, they would have been way down in that time.

Anyhow, the time has been nearing for Stately to come out from the protective shade of private business, and as part of that, on February 21, TPCO Holding Corp, a British Columbia corporation listed on the NEO under the GRAM ticker, Gold Flora, LLC, a California limited liability company, Stately Capital Corporation, Gold Flora Corporation, a British Columbia corporation, and Golden Grizzly Bear LLC, a California limited liability company entered into a business combo.

And on July 10 the resulting newco began trading.

Gold Flora Corporation, a top player in the field, announced that it had successfully merged with TPCO Holding Corp, which had admittedly struggled over the last few years to find a good reason to exist, in a deal involving only stock. With this deal, the two companies now operate under the name Gold Flora Corporation, creating a powerhouse of services including growing, distributing, branding, and retail and delivery. With the combined forces of both companies, they aim to have a hand in every part of the booming cannabis supply chain in California.

The move helps TCPO correct course, gets Stately public, and gives Gold Flora a ticker.

Laurie Holcomb, the CEO of the new Gold Flora Corporation, described it as a landmark moment, not just for the new team but also for the entire California cannabis industry. The merger, according to her, brings together the best elements of both companies, creating a true industry leader with the ideal mix of assets and expertise, giving them the opportunity to develop a unique range of products to give consumers the best experience. Holcomb also pointed out that they’ve already identified several ways to make the most of their combined strengths and to reduce costs, which will ultimately bring more value to their customers and shareholders.

To be clear, the newco will need to find its footing quickly to impress upon a cratered weed market that it’s the real deal and worth jumping all over.

But there are a lot of pieces here.

The Chairman of the Board, Troy Datcher, was equally excited about the merger. He lauded it as a significant milestone in their goal to become the leading company in the cannabis sector in California, and with the deal done, the company now looks forward to harnessing their combined capabilities to produce innovative and culturally relevant products while boosting profitability. In the fine print of the merger, it’s mentioned that the previous shareholders of The Parent Company (TCPO) now own around 49% of Gold Flora, while previous Gold Flora shareholders own about 51%.

Trading resumes on the NEO Exchange under the ticker “GRAM” today.

Giddyup.

— Chris Parry

FULL DISCLOSURE:  Equity Guru was an early stage investor in Stately and enjoyed a commercial relationship with Doja prior to its exit.