Cannabis company Parallel, led by chewing gum heir William "Beau" Wrigley Jr. and Ceres Acquisition Corp. (OTCQX:CERAF), a special purpose acquisition corporation, have mutually ended their billion-dollar merger deal after months of negotiations.
The two companies terminated their business combination, which was announced in February, according to the recent announcement, thus ending Wrigley’s plans to take his MSO public.
At the time, Parallel said it was going public after agreeing to a $1.9 billion sale under the deal with the music mogul "Scooter" Braun's Ceres Acquisition Corp.
In addition, a group of investors, led by Ceres and Parallel, agreed to take part in the transaction via a $225 million over-subscribed private investment in public equity.
As earlier stated, the combined entity would have had a $430 million cash balance at closing and net revenues of $447 million in 2021, in addition to operating 42 brick-and-mortar dispensaries across five states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Texas and Nevada.
The companies didn't provide a reason for calling off the merger, Marijuana Business Daily writes.
However, according to Reuters, quoting anonymous sources, "several investors had lost confidence in Parallel's ability to deliver on lofty financial projections it provided in February when the merger was announced."
Photo: Courtesy of Karolina Grabowska from Pexels