MJBiz acquired by Emerald Holding for $120 million

Curated and edited by Sechat, with information from Hightimes

Based in Denver, MJBiz, well known for its online "B2B" news and business content, has been acquired by Emerald X. Emerald is a subsidiary of Emerald Holding, a media and events company based in New York, and acquired MJBiz for a total of $120 million.

The acquisition includes MJBizCon, MJBizDaily, Hemp Industry Daily, MJBiz Magazine, as well as The Emerald Conference, which MJBiz acquired in 2020. According to Hervé Sedky, President and CEO of Emerald, this acquisition will greatly benefit their company. “We have long admired MJBiz's excellent reputation as the most trusted event and content producer serving the business side of the cannabis industries and their respective participants. MJBiz's leading portfolio of events and content, along with its 365-day engagement platform that connects the entire cannabis supply chain, will diversify our collective product offerings, enhance our growth profile, and allow us to deliver even more value to our customers in the long term.”

MJBiz CEO Chris Walsh also shared that this move represents the growth of the cannabis industry. “This really highlights the growing interest in cannabis from all corners of the business world, the vast market potential, and the success not only of MJBiz but of the entire industry,” said Walsh. “We are seeing these types of deals across cannabis as pioneering companies like ours level up to more effectively explore and promote the next wave of industry growth.”

The most recent MJBizCon event was held from October 19 to 22, 2021, attracting approximately 27,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibitors at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada. The event prides itself on being one of the largest and longest-running cannabis business events, and it will celebrate its 11th year of operation in 2022 with expectations of reaching 30,000 attendees. Tentatively, the event date has been set for November 15 to 18, 2022. The Emerald Conference is scheduled to take place from February 27 to March 1, 2022.

Emerald operates over 142 events and 16 media projects covering a wide variety of markets, including design, equipment, retail, security and protection, and technology. The Outdoor Retailer Snow Show, International Pizza Expo, Modern Day Marine, Retail Innovation Conference & Expo, Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show, to name just a few events, are all presented by Emerald.

According to MJBizDaily, the current team of about 40 people will continue to work under the new ownership of the company, while Emerald employs over 600 people. CEO Chris Walsh, Senior Vice President of Events and Sales Jess Tyler, and Senior Vice President of Content Development and Audience Pam Moore have been confirmed to continue working as part of MJBiz's daily operations.

Co-founders Cassandra Farmington and Anne Holland will also continue to provide consulting. MJBiz co-founder Cassandra Farmington is confident that the incorporation of MJBiz by another will only strengthen both companies. “Our organization has experienced massive growth since its inception, initially as a how-to resource to help dispensary owners better manage their businesses, to our position today as the leading business resource for the cannabis sector,” said Farmington. “The integration with a larger organization provides the additional resources and channels to unlock the next phase of MJBiz's growth and is the right next step in our evolution as a business. We chose Emerald because they clearly value the unique aspects of our brand and are committed to serving the expansion of the industry.”

In addition to the $120 million acquisition value, MJBiz notes that the gain is based on future financial performance calculated as “an amount equal to the average EBITDA of MJBiz over the last two years minus $13 million - multiplied by 9.3.” Emerald's Chief Financial Officer projects that this gain could reach somewhere between $30 million and $50 million in early 2023.