The New York Stock Exchange may soon be trading shares of a Canadian cannabis company.
Canopy Growth, an Ontario-based cannabis producer, has applied to trade its shares on the NYSE, expecting to be approved sometime by the end of May, under the symbol CGC.
According to Beacon Securities analyst Vahan Ajamian,
“Listing on the NYSE should significantly widen shareholder attention to Canopy”.
While according to Sean Stiefel, a portfolio manager at Navy Capital in NY, since American hedge funds invest exclusively into US listed stocks, being on NYSE creates more opportunity to attract institutional money.
Canopy had initially pursued a listing on the Nasdaq, and will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (under the symbol WEED), however according to CEO Bruce Linton, Canopy chose the NYSE due to the additional credibility it provides the company. It seems being on the NYSE will both add visibility and legitimacy to Canopy, and subsequently the medical marijuana industry as a whole, calling forth mainstream investors to pay attention to the potential growth it can produce.
As Stiefel puts it,
“a lot of banks that have not invested in the medical marijuana sector will have no excuse when it’s on the New York Stock Exchange,”
If Canopy wins approval, it will be the second cannabis company to trade on a top American stock market, after Cronos which was listed on Nasdaq last February.