Revolving Credit Lines Break New Ground in Cannabis Debt Markets

LOS ANGELES – Two leading multistate Cannabis operators, Verano Holdings Corp. and Curaleaf Holdings Inc., have closed pioneering revolving credit agreements in recent weeks, marking a quiet but telling step forward for the sector’s access to debt financing.

Verano secured a $75 million facility on October 1, arranged by Chicago Atlantic Admin LLC and backed by a regional bank. The company immediately drew $50 million to pay down a like amount of higher-cost senior secured debt. The line, backed by select real estate assets, carries a 2028 maturity positioned deliberately after Verano’s $350 million debt come due next October.

Curaleaf followed suit on October 14, expanding its existing revolver with Needham Bank from $40 million to $100 [!] million. The one-year initial term includes options to extend up to five years, with interest starting at 7.99% and rising to 8.99% if the company refinances its senior notes maturing in 2026. Curaleaf plans to tap at least $50 million from the facility to retire pricier acquisition-related obligations.

These deals, while modest against the operators’ broader balance sheets carry outsized weight, according to analysis from Viridian Capital Advisors. The firm highlights them as the inaugural unfunded commitments of their kind for Cannabis companies, a tool long standard among blue-chip companies for buffering against cash crunches without tying up capital on hand.

From a financial standpoint, the arrangements underscore a maturing creditor appetite for the industry, facing a collective $6 billion in 2026 maturities. For Verano, the post-2026 expiration of its revolver acts as a tacit endorsement from Chicago Atlantic that rollover prospects look solid, potentially easing pressure on its net debt load and freeing up working capital for operational tweaks. Curaleaf’s shorter-term structure offers less of that reassurance, but the upsizing still trims its blended borrowing costs [key when interest expenses already chew through 15% of revenue] and bolsters flexibility amid flat sales growth projections of 5% for next year.

The moves reflect lenders’ growing comfort with Cannabis borrowers’ cash flows, now that federal tax drags and state-level sales data paint a clearer profitability picture. Yet they also expose the sector’s ongoing bind: these lines cover just a fraction of looming refinancings, leaving room for turbulence if broader credit markets tighten.

Highly Capitalized Network-HCN views these facilities as footholds rather than full ramparts. They won’t erase the 2026 cliff alone, but by enabling leaner cash reserves and cheaper incremental funding, they position Verano and Curaleaf to weather it with sharper edges – the proof that disciplined operators can pry open doors long bolted shut.