Week 19

 Update for Cannabis Industry between March 23rd and March 27th.

There was no M&A activity in Canadian market, so I decided to look into Tilray Brands.

Tilray Brands currently has 46 brands and is specialized in Medical Cannabis, Adult-Use Cannabis, Craft Beer & Beverages and Wellness/Hemp.

How did they get there?

Tilray has become what it is through multiple acquisitions and here is a short breakdown of it:

├── Medical Cannabis
│ ├── Tilray (pre-2018)
│ ├── Aphria (merged 2021)
│ ├── cc pharma (brought in via Aphria merger 2021)
│ └── Symbios (brought in via Aphria merger 2021)

├── Adult-Use Cannabis
│ ├── Hexo (acquired 2023)
│ │ ├── The Batch (Hexo, 2023)
│ │ ├── Bake Sale (Hexo, 2023)
│ │ ├── Original Stash (OS) (Hexo, 2023)
│ │ ├── Chowie (Hexo, 2023)
│ │ └── Mollo (Hexo, 2023)
│ ├── Riff (Aphria legacy, 2021 merger)
│ ├── Canaca (Aphria/Tilray legacy, 2021 merger)
│ ├── OS Original Stash (duplicate, Hexo, 2023)
│ ├── Solei (Aphria legacy, 2021 merger)
│ ├── Broken Coast (Aphria acquisition 2018 → merged 2021)
│ ├── MXG (uncertain/minor)
│ ├── Redecan (acquired by Hexo 2021 → Tilray 2023)
│ └── Good Supply (Aphria legacy, 2021 merger)

├── Craft Beer & Beverages
│ ├── AB InBev Craft Portfolio (acquired 2023)
│ │ ├── 10 Barrel Brewing (2023)
│ │ ├── Alpine Beer Company (2023)
│ │ ├── Atwater Brewery (Molson Coors 2024)
│ │ ├── Blue Point (2023)
│ │ ├── Breckenridge Brewery (2023)
│ │ ├── Green Flash (2023)
│ │ ├── Hop Valley (Molson Coors 2024)
│ │ ├── Montauk (2023)
│ │ ├── Redhook (2023)
│ │ ├── Revolver Brewing (Molson Coors 2024)
│ │ ├── Runner’s High (2023)
│ │ ├── Shock Top (2023)
│ │ ├── Square Mile (2023)
│ │ ├── SweetWater (pre-2021, Aphria legacy)
│ │ └── Terrapin (Molson Coors 2024)
│ ├── Breckenridge Distillery (2023)
│ ├── Casa Breckenridge (2023)
│ ├── HiBall (2023)
│ ├── Liquid Love (2023)
│ ├── Cruises (minor/uncertain)
│ ├── Mockne (minor/uncertain)
│ └── Mountain Shot (minor/uncertain)

└── Wellness / Hemp
├── Manitoba Harvest (2019)
├── Happy Flower (post-2019, via Manitoba Harvest/Tilray)
├── Fizzy Janes (post-2019)
├── Fresh Hemp Foods (post-2019)
└── Humble Seed (post-2019)

As you can see, 2021 and 2023 were the major years for Tilray where it essentially acquired most of the brands. One of the biggest one's that has the most amount of brands was back in August 2023, Anheuser-Busch InBev announced the sale of eight craft beer and beverage brands to Tilray Brands for $85 million in cash. The deal, which closed in late 2023, included Shock Top, Breckenridge Brewery, Blue Point Brewing Company, 10 Barrel Brewing Company, Redhook Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Square Mile Cider Company, and HiBall Energy.

This is a very interesting acquisition as these brands have no relation to cannabis, which makes me think that Tilray is trying to position itself like Pepsi where it expands their portfolio vertically. But at the same time, we can say it is more of a hybrid model as their Cannabis business has expended vertically ((medical + adult-use) + wellness/hemp Tilray owns cultivation → production → distribution.), while beverages are mor of a horizontal model.

Currently, Tilray Cash Flows are very healthy and I am surprised on how well they manage their cash. I am currently thinking if I show do a more in-depth analysis on this company as it does seem very complicated given the amount of brands.