We’ve been informed in recent news about High Times Holding Corp.’s plans to dominate California’s legal cannabis market. For example, in our previous post, we discussed how the famous company’s sights were set on the purchase and opening of a string of dispensaries under its well-known brand name.

However, the latest on the subject is that the planned acquisition of Humboldt Heritage has been terminated by “mutual agreement”. This is according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted by the cannabis magazine’s parent on May 15. 

The deal that was set to be secured between High Times Holdings Corp. and Humboldt Heritage would have involved subsidiaries Humboldt Sun Growers Guild and Grateful Eight. If it had gone ahead, the deal was believed to have given High Times an almighty boost. Executive Chair Adam Levin previously boasted about how it would offer “200+ of the best cannabis-producing farms in the world and the rest of the capabilities we’ll need to grow into the future as a larger High Times family.”

Since the deal has now been terminated, the company has lost a significant opportunity to broaden its footprint across California’s cannabis retail market.

Recent cannabis industry activity of High Times

A great deal of activity has been taking place within the High Times family lately. Since 2018, the company has been striving to execute a Regulation A public stock offering; the company has raised in excess of $20 million, but this is short of the $50 million goal. Regulatory documents confirm that the offering has been extended until June 30. 

In April, High Times made an $80 million decision to acquire 13 currently-operating and soon-to-open cannabis retail outlets in California’s market. All of the dispensaries included in the deal – which is mostly in stock shares – are owned by multistate operator (MSO) Harvest Health & Recreation. However, that deal may also pose some problems for High Times, since the involved licensees are related to various jurisdictions and minority partners.

Investors interested in/actively involved in High Times cannabis stocks will likely be feeling uneasy about the fact that the professionals behind the face of the company keep changing, too. On Monday, May 5, Stormy Simon – after fewer than four months as Hightimes CEO – resigned from the job. She has been replaced by Peter Horvath — the company’s third CEO in just over a year. 

High Times Cannabis Cup will return to Colorado this month

Some good news: the High Times Cannabis Cup will commence in Colorado this summer. This decision has been long-awaited by cannabis growers, product makers and extraction specialists who are keen to compete for numerous titles; titles that could provide the winners with a platform for widespread market interest in their product(s).

Don’t expect this year’s event to be like the typical High Times Cannabis Cup, however, which was last held publicly in Denver back in 2015. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, social distancing measures mean that dispensary customers will be the judges this year; under normal circumstances, 30 “expert” judges decide who bags the treasured ‘Cannabis Cup’ award.

Vice President of Content, Jon Cappetta, says that this year’s High Times Cannabis Cup event in Colorado will be created specially for the people, who can sample batches and complete their ballots from home.

“People can’t just walk around and sample products this year, and that was the biggest opportunity for cannabis brands, given advertising regulations,” Cappetta says. “So this year, imagine you open up a backpack at home, and there’s thirty containers of buds inside for you to sample.”