Blank-check firm Silver Spike rallies 49% after merging with cannabis-tech platform Weedmaps

• Weedmaps – an e-commerce platform focused on the marijuana industry – will become a publicly traded company through a merger with blank-check firm Silver Spike Acquisition Corp.
• Silver Spike leaped as much as 48.7% on Thursday after announcing the deal. The acquisition values the combined entity at roughly $1.5 billion.
• WM Holding, which owns Weedmaps, sells software for cannabis retailers and runs an online platform for marijuana consumers and businesses.
• The SPAC merger will provide “a stronger platform” for pursuing marijuana legalization, social equity, and licensing in new jurisdictions, WM Holding CEO Chris Beals said in a press release.
• Watch Silver Spike Acquisition Corp. trade live here.

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Silver Spike Acquisition Corp. surged as much as 48.7% on Thursday after the special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, announced plans to merge with Weedmaps’ parent company

Weedmaps – an e-commerce platform specializing in the cannabis industry – will become a publicly traded company through the takeover. The deal values the combined entity at $1.5 billion and includes $575 million in gross proceeds from Silver Spike, according to a press release.

Proceeds from cash totaled $250 million. A fully-committed private investment in public equity, or PIPE, provided the remaining $325 million.

WM Holding, which owns Weedmaps, sells software for cannabis retailers and operates an e-commerce platform for marijuana consumers and businesses. The company has grown at a compounded annual rate of 40% over the last five years and is expected to post a $35 million profit in 2020.

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WM Holding's merger will provide "a stronger platform" for pursuing marijuana legalization, social equity, and licensing in new jurisdictions, CEO Chris Beals said. Beals will lead the combined entity while Silver Spike CEO Scott Gordon will join its board of directors. 

The acquisition was unanimously approved by both companies' boards and requires approval from Silver Spike's shareholders. Shares of the combined firm are set to trade on the Nasdaq exchange.

Weed stocks have enjoyed a healthy bounce in bullishness in recent months. President-elect Joe Biden's November victory boosted the sector as investors bet on a Democratic administration to push for federal decriminalization of marijuana. 

The House passed a bill for such decriminalization and the expunging of nonviolent marijuana-related convictions on Friday, but the measure is expected to die in the Senate.

Silver Spike's acquisition adds to 2020's frenzy of SPAC mergers. The so-called blank-check companies raise cash through initial public offerings and use the funds to buy a private company and take the merged entity public. More than $75 billion has been raised across 221 SPAC IPOs in 2020 so far, according to SPACInsider.com. That compares to just $13.6 billion in proceeds across 59 deals in 2019.

The spike in SPAC activity contributed to record IPO fundraising throughout the year, with major deals still taking place. DoorDash and Airbnb raised a combined $6.7 billion this week, and debuts from ContextLogic and Roblox are expected to land before 2021.

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