Legendary cannabis publication High Times will be having some high-profile new owners.
Venture capitalist Adam Levin led the $70 million acquisition through his new firm, Oreva Capital, partnering with Damian Marley’s newly-public company Stony Hill, Ean Seeb, the founder of Denver Relief Consulting, a Colorado dispensary, and 17 other partners in the cannabis, real estate, and technology space.
“High Times, to me, is the Coca-Cola of the industry,” Levin told Business Insider. “And obviously, cannabis is one of the fastest growing industries today.”
Damian Marley, Bob Marley’s son as well as a musician and cannabis investor, said he had used High Times when he was “growing herb” in high school to differentiate between male and female plants (the female plants produce THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis).
“High Times also had me daydreaming of so many beautiful strains that at the time I had not yet had the chance to experience,” Marley said in a statement. “It is now an honor to be a part of the High Times legacy that I’ve been a fan of for so many years.”
Levin will take over as CEO with plans to re-build the brand — it moved its headquarters to Los Angeles in January — to capture what he says is High Times’ “brand equity” with events like the Cannabis Cup. The company will operate as High Times Holding Company (HTHC).Â
“To be the front-and-center of an industry with a brand that hasn’t been monetized, that’s the appeal,” Levin said, discussing his plans to transition High Times from a print business to a more “diversified” digital media and events company.Â
“At the end of the day, we’re the trusted brand to a consumer audience that’s growing on a day-to-day basis and massively evolving from the typical stoner audience, to an everyday consumer type of audience,” Levin said.Â
Lets see is Damian and Levin can put a new spin on the old rag. This isn’t Marley’s first cannabis investment. Earlier this year, he purcahsed an old prison yard in Carlifornia that he plans on turning into a grow.
