One80 Makes Cannabis Buy-in with Cannasure Insurance Services Acquisition

March 9, 2021

Cannabis is getting bigger, and now insuring cannabis seems to be a bigger deal, too. The cannabis-focused insurance space can now be counted as part of a larger trend in recently announced business deals in cannabis.

One80 Intermediaries announced on Tuesday it has acquired Cannasure Insurance Services, an Ohio-based wholesale broker and managing general agent focused on the cannabis and hemp industry.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Despite the pandemic, sales in the cannabis industry saw a massive boost last year, rising 48% to $21.3 billion. Analytics firm BDSA now forecasts global cannabis sales will grow to $55.9 billion in 2026, a compound annual growth rate of more than 17%.

Cannasure is well known in the cannabis space. The firm provides retail insurance agents with risk assessments and product offerings, which include property, general liability, excess, professional, products and completed operations liability.

Cannasure is a national wholesale broker, program manager and third-party administrator that serves cultivators, dispensaries, extractors, processors, product manufacturers, testing labs, landlords and ancillary businesses in all states where cannabis and hemp are legal. It offers coverage on a monoline or package basis.

“The Cannasure acquisition ensures that we stay at the forefront of the industry, providing unmatched protection to cannabis and hemp businesses helping them thrive,” Matthew F. Power, president of One80 Intermediaries, said in a statement.

One80 Intermediaries has been on a buying spree the past few years.

In late February, it acquired Edward E. Hall and Co., a New York-based managing general underwriter that specializes in the retail vehicle industry. Its acquisitions last year included Beachwood, Ohio-based International Excess Program Managers, a wholesale insurance brokerage and program manager, and New Jersey’s Equinox Management Group and its affiliates Meridian Management Group and Co-Ordinated Benefit Plans.

Boston, Mass.-based One80 Intermediaries is a privately held, national wholesaler and program manager with offices throughout the U.S. and Canada. The firm offers placement services and binding authority for property/casualty, financial lines, personal lines, life insurance, medical stop loss, alternative risk, warranty, lender-based insurance, travel/accident and health risks.

On top of its sales growth, the cannabis industry has been awash in investing deals and mergers and acquisitions. Jazz Pharmaceuticals in early February announced it would be acquiring GW Pharmaceuticals.

Multi-state cannabis operator Parallel recently announced its intention to go public via a merger with special acquisition corporation Ceres Acquisition Corp. in a deal with an estimated value of $1.8 billion.

Choice Consolidation Corp., another in a number of SPAC deals as of late in the cannabis industry, raised $150 million in an IPO on the Canadian NEO Exchange in mid-February.

This all follows the $4 billion merger announcement at the end of 2020 of Canadian cannabis firms Aphria and Tilray, which will create the world’s largest cannabis company.

Related:

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Cannabis

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