Special purpose acquisition corporation Northern Lights has announced the acquisition of cannabis-focused financial services provider Safe Harbor.
Northern Lights and Safe Harbor will be led by Safe Harbor Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sundie Seefried. The boards of directors and managers of Northern Lights, PCCU (Partner Colorado Credit Union), and Safe Harbor have approved the proposed action.
“Safe Harbor is the most compelling investment opportunity we have encountered in the cannabis industry as both operators and investors,” John Darwin and Joshua Mann, Co-CEOs of Northern Lights, noted via a joint statement. “Safe Harbor is one of the only multi-state financial service organizations to successfully navigate the highly regulated cannabis banking industry, providing services that operators in other industries take for granted. Setting the gold standard for regulatory compliance, as well as providing access to growth capital across the entire cannabis value chain, Safe Harbor is uniquely positioned to scale.”
Safe Harbor was formed to provide compliant access to banking and financial services for the cannabis industry. Since 2015, Safe Harbor has grown to nearly 600 accounts spanning 20 states.
The parties revealed Northern Lights is slated to acquire Safe Harbor for a total of $185 million, with $70 million paid in cash and $115 million in shares of Northern Lights Class A common stock. The estimated post-transaction equity value will be approximately $327 million.
“The acquisition by Northern Lights will allow Safe Harbor to advance its efforts to remain the premier cannabis financial services provider,” Seefried said.
“Over the last seven years, our team has pioneered what many consider to be the industry standard cannabis banking platform by establishing strong internal processes and controls, and by complying with rigorous state and federal banking guidelines.”