McGuireWoods is a winner of The M&A Advisor’s Healthcare/Life Sciences Deal of the Year Award for its role advising Canadian cannabinoid investment company Cronos Group on its strategic investment in PharmaCann Inc., one of the largest privately held and vertically integrated cannabis multistate operators in the United States.
McGuireWoods will be recognized Sept. 21, 2022, during the International M&A Awards honoring top mergers and acquisitions and the firms involved in closing the transactions. The M&A Advisor selected the award winners from hundreds of nominations evaluated by an independent panel of industry experts.
McGuireWoods provided regulatory advice to Cronos Group in the $110.4 million deal, which gave Cronos Group an option to acquire a 10.5% ownership stake in PharmaCann once cannabis is legalized at the federal level. When the option is exercised, Cronos Group and PharmaCann will enter into commercial agreements permitting each to offer its products through either company’s distribution channels.
Chicago partner Thomas DeSplinter, Charlotte partner Kate Hardey and Chicago associate Royce DuBiner led the McGuireWoods team representing Cronos Group. DeSplinter is a corporate and private equity partner. Hardey and DuBiner are healthcare attorneys and co-hosts of McGuireWoods’ “Edible Bites” video webinar series and its biweekly “In the Weeds” newsletter focusing on cannabis, hemp and CBD issues.
“We were proud to assist Cronos Group in this investment, which advances the company’s growth strategy and prepares it for future changes to cannabis regulations in the U.S.,” Hardey said.
“It is an honor to be recognized for our role in this innovative deal and to have partnered with Sullivan & Cromwell in advising Cronos Group,” DeSplinter added. “This transaction demonstrated McGuireWoods’ significant capabilities in healthcare and life sciences deals.”
McGuireWoods consistently ranks among the leading law firms for U.S. and global M&A deals, including private equity transactions, in league tables published by Refinitiv and Bloomberg. The firm is a dominant player in healthcare private equity transactions. Its annual Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference is one of the largest private equity events in the U.S. healthcare market.