logo-loader

Artemis Growth Partners eyes ‘impressive opportunity’ to invest in burgeoning cannabis market

Published: 04:52 27 May 2020 EDT

Artemis Growth Partners - Artemis Growth Partners eyes ‘impressive opportunity’ to invest in burgeoning cannabis market

Artemis Growth Partners is eyeing what one of its co-founders says is an “impressive opportunity” to invest in the rapidly expanding global cannabis market.

Speaking to Proactive, Will Muecke said that cannabis has been designated as an “essential category” in the US during the coronavirus pandemic, and as a result, the market has been more resilient to disruption.

He added that the pandemic has increased the focus on health and wellness, which he believes will benefit the industry.

It is this growth that Artemis is aiming to harness as a private equity firm that invests entirely in the global cannabis market, with a particular focus on private companies and categories that are expected to “do well” in the market such as those with online distribution capabilities.

Muecke also highlights that cannabis is “a very broad category”, with opportunities present in both the intoxicating element tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and the non-intoxicating component of cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD).

He added that the firm is eyeing opportunities in the “very exciting” European market, which presents a large addressable market for cannabis.

Muecke says the heavily regulated aspects of the European cannabis market, where most THC products are usually only accessible with a doctor’s prescription, is “highly transparent and highly safe”.

“We as investors like those industries, we like transparency, we like regulated industries, and we like where governments are aligned with consumers, and cannabis is one of those”, he said.

Looking to the firm’s portfolio, Muecke said the company’s performance has been “very robust” since it began in late 2017, with the fund having increased in value by around 52% as of close on 21 May 2020 despite the effects from the coronavirus pandemic.

He added that while the company has sold some companies already, more benefits are “to come in the future”.

“We don’t have any holes in the portfolio and if anything we’re well positioned for growth in the future”, Muecke said.

One of the company’s recent acquisitions is Bridge Farms Group, a UK-based producer of ornamental plant, flowers and herbs.

Other firms in the Artemis portfolio include cannabis products retailer GTI, cannabis confectionary maker Kiva and cultivation and processing firm Clever Leaves.

In terms of returns, Muecke says Artemis is promising investors “better than traditional private equity returns” with a long-term view that cannabis will be an investible category over the next 20 years as the category widens.

“[Cannabis] is a very disruptive category across so many different industries, so we find this a very interesting entry point at a time that it will continue to grow”, he said.

Looking ahead, while he does not want to be overly optimistic, Muecke said 2020 could be “one of the hallmark years for investing in cannabis”, and that his view of the industry has only be strengthened during the coronavirus outbreak.

“As professional investors, we find the industry incredibly attractive and a very long-term view of it as a successful category”, he added.

Australian Strategic Materials signs US$600 million LoI

Rowena Smith, CEO and managing director of Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASX:ASM, OTC:ASMMF), joins Jonathan Jackson in the Proactive studio to discuss the company’ s Dubbo Project, in Central West New South Wales. This project aims to extract and process critical minerals and rare earth...

4 hours, 16 minutes ago