High Times Sold
June 3, 2017An investment group that includes Bob Marley's son has purchased High Times
Specifically, the 20 person strong investment group acquired 60% interest in Trans-High Corporation - the parent company of High Times. The sale price was not announced but is believed to be in the $70 Million range. Adam Levin becomes the new CEO and the company gets a new name: High Times Holding Company. Levin's investment firm, Oreva Capital, orchestrated the deal.
High Times is the company known for its cannabis-centric magazine and Cannabis Cup trade shows. High times was started in 1974 by drugs trafficker Tom Forcade, who took his own life only four years later.
However the Cannabis Cup did not start until much later. The Cannabis Cup only came into being in 1988, with Amsterdam Holland as the venue. Amsterdam was the exclusive home for High Times' Cannabis Cups until 2010, when US cities began to host Cups. Amsterdam last hosted a High Times Cup in 2014 after irking local authorities.
Problems with authorities is a continual theme for High Times and their hosting of US-based Cannabis Cups too.
The much anticipated inaugural Las Vegas Cannabis Cup earlier this year was all but shut down when federal authorities stepped in and banned cannabis. This even though Nevada had just voted in legal recreational cannabis.
In the past two years, at least a half dozen Cannabis Cups had to be canceled due to permit issues, including the highly popular Denver Cannabis Cup. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain a permit to hold a large cannabis event with public consumption.
But there is big demand for such events.
The Cannabis Cup held this past February in southern California drew 25,000 people.
