IPO? How about HighPO? The 43-year-old marijuana media brand High Times has found a shortcut to going public: It sold itself to an already public shell company, of which High Times share holders then got an 83 percent stake.
After private equity firm Oreva Capital bought a controlling stake in the publisher last month, they went and sold High Times to an already public special-purpose acquisition company, Origo. Oreva had valued the company at $70 million, but the new transaction valued it at more than triple that, with the company expecting a market cap of $250 million. High Times shareholders will have an 83 percent stake, whereas the Origo SPAC will own 17 percent. It seems there are high hopes for High Times to become a massive media empire as marijuana becomes legal in more states.
