High Times Holdings Archives - Green Market Report

Debra BorchardtDecember 27, 2022

From debt defaults to ousted leaders, the cannabis industry had its fair share of scandals in 2022.

Jenel Stelton-HoltmeierOctober 21, 2022

It’s been a rough news week for the cannabis industry. Two separate Canadian producers (The Flowr Corp. and Flower One) filed for creditor protection from the courts, and a cannabis information and education website cut more than one-fifth of its staff.

On top of that, long-beleaguered company CannTrust said it was making a proposal to creditors that could result in the company fully dissolving by the end of November.

But it’s also a cautionary tale for other companies who have been chasing growth at all costs, expecting the revenue to eventually cover all the costs. You have a business to run, so make sure you’re running it like a business.

Here are some expert tips on things you can do today to improve the health of your company tomorrow:

Make sure you’re keeping accurate and complete records of all aspects of your business operations. “If you can’t prove something in writing, it might as well not exist,” cannabis accountant Zach Gordon recently told KayaPush. It might sound tedious, but it’s up to you to keep track of where all the dollars and cents are going in your company to make sure you can continue to meet your obligations. This is particularly important for publicly traded companies.
Don’t overextend your business too much. Raising capital via debt transactions has become more popular as more institutions have become more willing to provide loans to cannabis companies. According to Viridian Capital Advisors, debt accounted for 93% of all capital raised in cannabis through Oct. 14. But that money has risks that equity raises don’t – in particular, a repayment schedule. If you’re not careful, that monthly obligation can be steep. For example, High Times found itself owing $100,000 every month; this week, the cannabis brand this week announced it had entered into a settlement agreement with the lender after it defaulted on the obligation.
Don’t wait until it’s too late to change. It’s tempting to try and hold out for the better days you “know” are coming, but if you wait until the tough times to adjust your operations, you might find yourself in a position where you have to cut so deep it can be near impossible to recover. Flowr cut roughly 40% of its staff earlier this year (alongside divesting noncore operations), but the savings didn’t amount to enough to help it avoid bankruptcy. You can be hopeful, but always look at the finances with a cautious lens and position your company so that it can be nimble when things aren’t rosy.

These tips aren’t magic bullets; they won’t solve all the challenges of operating a cannabis company. But they offer a great place to start to make sure your financial house is in order.

Debra BorchardtOctober 20, 2022

The company says it is in default on the debt.

Debra BorchardtJanuary 31, 2022

Like a broken record, High Times has seen another CEO depart and has extended its Reg-A offering yet again.

Horvath Out

High Times just posted a filing with the SEC announcing that CEO Peter Horvath has resigned from his position as Chief Executive Officer and Director effective immediately. The resignation was dated January 25th. The filing stated, ” To our knowledge, Mr. Horvath left his position for personal reasons and there was no dispute or disagreement between Mr. Horvath and the Company.”

“On January 25, 2022, Paul Henderson, the Company’s President and interim Chief Financial Officer, was appointed to the position of CEO and a director on the Company’s board of directors. Mr. Henderson will also continue in his roles as President and interim Chief Financial Officer. Christopher Chabot, who has acted as an operations consultant for the Company since March of 2020, has been appointed to fill the position of Chief Operating Officer.”

High Times has had trouble keeping a CEO. Horvath seems to have lasted the longest in a while. He was CEO since May 2020. Former CEO Stormy Simon was out at Hightimes Holding Corp. after just four months. The Horvath hire was meant to align with High Times’ recent acquisition of pending and operational licenses from Harvest Health & Recreation, which was acquired by Trulieve (OTC: TCNNF). Prior to Simon was Kraig Fox. Chairman Adam Levine stepped down from the CEO role when Kraig Fox stepped in to lead the company through its efforts to go public and shift towards a plant-touching business. Fox was hired in April 2019 and left nine months later. Fox’s background as a Senior Managing Director of Guggenheim Partners where he focused on Guggenheim’s overall strategy in the media and entertainment spaces as well as the management of its media and entertainment investments was seen as an asset.

Levine often signs the company’s securities filings versus the CEO leading many to believe that Levine is really leading the company and that the CEO’s are often just figureheads.

Reg A Extended

In addition to the departure of Horvath, with days left on the latest offering extension, Hightimes Holding Corp., elected to extend the company’s existing Regulation A+ offering until as late as March 31, 2022.

The Offering is presently paused pending the company’s completion of an audit of its 2019 and 2020 annual consolidated financial statements and preparation of unaudited consolidated financial statement for the six months ended June 30, 2020, and June 30, 2021, the filing with the SEC of the Company’s annual report on Form 1-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, the semi-annual report on Form 1-SA for the six months ended June 30, 2020, the filing of the Company’s annual report on Form 1-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the filing of the Company’s semi-annual report on Form 1-SA for the six months ended June 30, 2021.

StaffJune 19, 2019

A veteran media and entertainment executive, Kraig Fox oversees High Time’s day-to-day operations, which now include Dope Magazine, Culture Magazine, Green Rush Daily, and a number of events, including the Cannabis Cup Festivals. Fox was once a Senior Managing Director of Guggenheim Partners where he focused on Guggenheim’s overall strategy in the media and entertainment spaces as well as the management of its media and entertainment investments. Prior to joining Guggenheim, Fox was a founder and Chief Operating Officer of Core Media (previously CKX, Inc.) where he oversaw all operations of this publicly traded company including Core’s interests in the estate of Elvis Presley and the intellectual property rights of Muhammad Ali as well oversight of its wholly owned subsidiary, 19 Entertainment, which included American Idol (including television, records, lives tours, artist management and sponsorships) and So You Think You Can Dance.

Prior to Core, Fox was a founder of SFX Entertainment (now Live Nation) where he was Chief Development Officer from 1995 until 2000 overseeing the global consolidation of the live entertainment industry into the world’s largest owner and operator of live entertainment promoters and producers.

GMR Executive Spotlight Q&A –

Full birth name: Kraig Fox

Title: President and CEO

Company: High Times Holdings

Years at current company: <1

Education profile: I received my bachelor’s from SI Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and my Juris Doctorate from Hofstra University School of Law

Most successful professional accomplishment before cannabis: Prior to my work in cannabis, I was a founder of what is now Live Nation and a Board Member of the Muhammad Ali Center

Company Mission: High Times’ mission is to connect cannabis consumers to endemic and non-endemic brands through our events, trade shows and digital assets.

Company’s most successful achievement: High Times is the only globally known brand in cannabis and has been connecting cannabis consumers with brands for nearly five decades. High Times has also been staging Cannabis Cup events for three decades and holds over a dozen live events a year spanning Europe, the United States and Canada, each of which draw tens of thousands of attendees who gather to celebrate the cannabis lifestyle, music and products. The Company recently expanded its international platform through its acquisition of Spannabis, one of the most prolific events in the cannabis ecosystem and one of the most well-known annual festivals within the EU.

Has the company raised any capital (yes or no): Yes

if so, how much?: Above $25M.

Any plans on raising capital in the future? Yes. We are currently finishing our highly successful Reg A + public offering and plan to list on a stock market shortly.

Most important 5 year company goal: Our focus will continue to remain on driving and growing our global brand presence.