Sep 18, 2018

Tilray CEO envisions US$100B future as company surges past Canopy's market cap

Tilray

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Tilray Inc. (TLRY.O), the cannabis company that has seen its valuation double since the beginning of the month, could become a US$100 billion company, according to its chief executive officer, as the regulations surrounding marijuana continue to ease across the globe.

Tilray is interested in the burgeoning market for consumer products that use ingredients from marijuana, CEO Brendan Kennedy said in an interview in New York Tuesday. “We’ve had lots of conversations with lots of companies,” he said, though he declined to provide specific details about any potential partnerships.

His comments come in the wake of high-profile cannabis industry investments by Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ.N) in Canopy Growth Corp. (WEED.TO), the company Tilray just dethroned to become the largest pot stock.

Tilray soared to a market capitalization of about US$14 billion to surge past Canopy Growth at a mere US$11.5 billion. That makes Tilray almost twice the size of aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. (AA.N) and bigger than Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO), the largest producer of precious metals. Never mind that Barrick had revenue of more than US$8 billion last year, compared with Tilray’s US$20 million.

Beverage giant Coca-Cola Co. is also studying the potential of drinks infused with CBD -- the non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, as first reported by BNN Bloomberg on Monday. But Kennedy said he’s not interested in getting taken over by a large consumer company.

“I don’t want to get bought by AB-InBev or Diageo, I want to be that company,” he added.

Tilray, based in British Columbia, Canada, has seen its shares soar nearly 800 per cent since it debuted in public trading in July. The stock spiked again on Tuesday, rising as much as 28 per cent to a record $153.88 per share after the company announced it had received U.S. approval to import medical cannabis to California for a research project.

The company’s market value has surged more than Kennedy expected in such a short period of time, but he’s not worried it’s overvalued. Well-known activist short-seller Andrew Left has suggested Tilray’s shares are destined to fall, and there have been calls for the company, which only listed a small percentage of its shares, to release more.

Kennedy noted that Tilray’s IPO was just two months ago, although he added that he’s always looking for ways to raise capital.