BudTrader To Go Public In Reverse Takeover

The cannabis e-commerce online vendor BudTrader is going public in a reverse takeover with Lake Victoria Mining, Inc. (OTCPINK:LVCA). The privately held Encinitas, CA-based P5 Systems Inc. has owned and operated the BudTrader.com since 2016. The website boasts two million-plus registered users safely and legally post classifieds–style advertisements for cannabis products, services, jobs, information, and equipment.

LVCA is a control affiliate of Grapefruit (OTCPINK: GPFT), which holds California permits and licenses to both manufacture and distribute cannabis products. Grapefruit’s extraction laboratory and distribution facilities are located in the industry recognized Coachillin’ Industrial Cultivation and Ancillary Canna-Business Park in Desert Hot Springs. Grapefruit reported net revenues of $451,196 for all of 2019. The company was previously known as Imaging 3 and traded under the symbol IGNG, which changed in January 2020.

The takeover expands the alliance between the two southern California firms which was first made public on April 1, 2020, when the firms announced a license agreement between the two companies. Since that time, the firms have worked closely implementing the logistics of the license, and in the course of that work the concept of the acquisition developed into a general plan for the Acquisition culminating in the execution of the LOI. At the conclusion of the acquisition, Grapefruit’s founders and management team will own approximately 20% of post-acquisition LVCA/BudTrader.

“We have been intrigued by the idea of an alliance with BudTrader since our first meeting with them in March 2020 in Palm Springs California,” said  Grapefruit CEO Bradley Yourist. “BudTrader’s multimillion cannabis-centric user social media base and its custom-designed analytics not only allow Grapefruit to target market its products to BudTrader’s specific set of consumers but also receive constant real-time feedback on our products from BudTrader’s users on the social media platform. We can rapidly fine-tune a potentially disruptive product such as our Patchless-Patch on the BudTrader platform in real-time. BudTrader will receive marketing fees in consideration for its online marketing efforts in connection with sales of Grapefruit and its partner’s products and our unique Grapefruit offerings will draw new users to the BudTrader site. As our product sales and revenues grow, BudTrader’s user base and revenues will grow as a result of our cross-marketing efforts.”

BudTrader’s founder Brad McLaughlin added, “We have been working with Grapefruit studying advanced data analytics from the legal cannabis marketplace and immediately recognized the synergy between Grapefruit and BudTrader at both the corporate culture and management team level. It’s a natural fit.”

Bud Trader

BudTrader was originally conceived to be solely a cannabis commerce platform but as it has increased in the number of users and user time spent on the site. BudTrader’s founder Brad McLoughlin and its directors and LVCA’s current management Bradley and Daniel Yourist, also the control persons of Grapefruit USA, Inc., all believe this cannabis-centric social media platform has the potential for explosive growth. NBA champion John Salley joined the company’s board in February 2019.

In May 2019, the company offered pre-IPO shares to the public calling itself the “Craigslist of Cannabis.” The shares were offered at EquiFund CFP. The company was raising $1 million and pricing its shares at $1.25. This gave the company a valuation of $16 million.

According to the offering in 2019, BudTrader’s revenues for the most recent fiscal year-end were $781,758.00, while the long term debt was listed at $149.200. The net income for the same time period was $83,767.00. The revenue fell from the prior fiscal year-end of $1,289,879.

MassRoots Connection

Douglas Leighton was listed as an advisor to BudTrader on its pitch deck for the pre-IPO shares. Leighton was recently charged by the SEC for a scheme in which he allegedly acquired discounted shares in a microcap company, knowingly failed to disclose his holdings and sales, and manipulated the public market for those shares. Leighton, two entities he controlled, and six investors he directed agreed to settlements ordering them to pay nearly $1.5 million in civil penalties, disgorgement, and prejudgment interest.MassRoots Connection

The company, though said Leighton resigned as a board member and advisor in March.

Dana Rohrabacher

Former Congressman Dan Rohrabacher, who has been a staunch cannabis advocate is also listed as an investor/advisor to BudTrader. Rohrbacher has come back into the news after it surfaced that he allegedly tried to broker a pardon for Julian Assange at the request of President Trump. Trump now says he hardly knows Rohrabacher. The former congressman is mostly working as a lobbyist.

LVCA Trading Activity

LVCA short interest popped in October 2019 to 131,368 from September’s 100 shares. The stock went from one cent a share in October to seven cents a share on no news. By November it had dropped back to three cents a share. For most of 2020, the shares have traded below two cents.

Debra Borchardt

Debra Borchardt is the Co-Founder, and Executive Editor of GMR. She has covered the cannabis industry for several years at Forbes, Seeking Alpha and TheStreet. Prior to becoming a financial journalist, Debra was a Vice President at Bear Stearns where she held a Series 7 and Registered Investment Advisor license. Debra has a Master's degree in Business Journalism from New York University.


22 comments

  • Davis

    May 3, 2020 at 7:57 pm

    Budtrader is a horrible horrible horrible HORRIBLE website. It doesn’t function right, it lacks pretty much everything. The listings on there are mostly illegal delivery services who sell you expired molded weed.

    They claim to have 2 million registered users, but of those 2 million how many of them are active?

    Don’t believe me? Go to any B2C convetion, ask anyone there if they use budtrader or ever used budtrader. I will give you a dollar for every time someone says they have. I guarantee nobody that is an active cannabis user uses budtrader.
    It’s a joke…

    Reply

  • craig

    May 5, 2020 at 10:09 pm

    Hello Debra, I just read your bud trader article. In the 2nd paragraph below “According to the offering in 2019, BudTender’s revenues”
    Im assuming you meant Budtrader’s revenues

    In May 2019, the company offered pre-IPO shares to the public calling itself the “Craigslist of Cannabis.” The shares were offered at EquiFund CFP. The company was raising $1 million and pricing its shares at $1.25. This gave the company a valuation of $16 million.

    According to the offering in 2019, BudTender’s revenues for the most recent fiscal year-end were $781,758.00, while the long term debt was listed at $149.200. The net income for the same time period was $83,767.00. The revenue fell from the prior fiscal year-end of $1,289,879.

    Reply

  • Alex

    May 12, 2020 at 10:28 am

    Budtrader, lol. What a joke.

    Reply

  • Alicia

    May 20, 2020 at 10:38 am

    I found my current job on BudTrader. Love it.

    Reply

    • James

      June 11, 2020 at 3:42 pm

      Could someone help me how to become a verification user in budtrader

      Reply

      • Debra Borchardt

        June 11, 2020 at 3:45 pm

        You need to go to them. We have nothing to do with this company. We only reported the news.

        Reply

      • matt

        November 1, 2022 at 5:32 am

        Go with thepluglist.com much better organization.

        Reply

  • Jamal crawford

    May 24, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    Please how can I get my account verified so that i can post freely.

    Reply

    • Dilan

      November 1, 2022 at 5:35 am

      Like the other guy said, go with the Pluglist its much better.

      Reply

  • jameslev

    June 10, 2020 at 3:08 am

    please which website offers free cannabis ad posting like budtrader.com
    im asking cause budtrader.com no longer offer free ad posting

    Reply

  • budtrader weedzz

    June 19, 2020 at 7:16 am

    Budtrader is a scamming website lost over 400$ and the support team won’t respond.

    Reply

  • Medical Mike

    August 4, 2020 at 3:18 am

    If one decided to hire a private investigator to really see what’s going on behind the scenes at BudTrader… tip of the iceberg will be misappropriating funds.

    Reply

    • Debra Borchardt

      August 4, 2020 at 9:05 am

      That would cost lots of money. A RTO does tend to hide things, but eventually, a public company has to publish its financial records and that is when any alleged bad behavior will come to light.

      Reply

  • Kent Scott

    September 29, 2020 at 12:25 pm

    I am one of the most active user of budtrader. But of recent my adds don’t longer go live. I tried to verify my account but it keeps falling. I love the site but am limited right now 😭

    Reply

  • SMITH WESLEY

    March 1, 2021 at 5:27 pm

    Budtrader was the only place i could sell my weed and have new customers everyday. but now i cant do anything on there. i wish i new a new place like budtrader.

    Reply

  • unabis

    April 12, 2021 at 10:03 am

    It seems to me that it will be a pretty good platform, but in the event that they fix the errors of their site. This is the only thing that pushes you away from buying on this server. Sometimes your account just gets lost, stops being active, or you just can’t access it for no reason. I’m sure they do have a lot of potentials, but it’s also worth working on the safety of the products that they have on their site. I have heard more than once that outright fakes have come across.

    Reply

  • kent scott

    November 27, 2021 at 9:05 am

    Very nicely done. Your show schedule gave me the info on some shows I was wondering about. I visited your web site today and found it very interesting and well done. I can tell you have put a lot of work into it. Thank you for the listing on your web page. You have a good looking web site Your site is exactly what I have looking for! Keep up the good work.

    cannabismarket250@gmail.com

    Reply

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