Medical Cannabis Producer GW Pharmaceuticals Sold For $7.2 Billion

DUBLIN, IRELAND – Ireland-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday it would buy  GW Pharmaceuticals in a $7.2 billion cash-and-stock deal to bolster its neuroscience business by adding cannabis-based epilepsy treatment.

The neuroscience unit will spearhead Jazz’s growth as it generated $456.9 million in the third-quarter sales, contributing a sizeable chunk to the overall sales of about $600 million.

GW Pharma’s CBD-based drug was approved in the United States in June 2018 for use in patients aged two years and older with Dravet Syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, rare childhood-onset forms of epilepsy and other treatment-resistant treatment.

This major move has rocked shares in cannabis stocks in New York and Toronto. Jazz can now move beyond treatments for sleep disorders and cancer by adding GW Pharma’s Epidolex, which brought in sales of $132 million in the last quarter.

The U.S. medical cannabis industry is estimated to cross $16 billion in annual sales by 2025, according to industry researcher New Frontier Data.

Jazz will acquire GW for $220 per American depositary share – $200 in cash and $20 in Jazz shares. The offer price represents a 50% premium to GW’s Tuesday closing price.

The cash portion of the transaction is expected to be funded through a combination of cash on hand and debt.