Mergers & Acquisitions
Each week, Viridian publishes insights and analysis on completed M&A transactions in the prior week. Our analysis includes:
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- M&A Market Commentary
- Public and Private Companies
- Buyers & Sellers
- YTD M&A Analysis
- M&A by Industry Sector
- Deal Structure and Valuation Analysis
- Pending Deal Risk Arb Analysis
- Valuation Gap Analysis
Transaction Summary
- One M&A deal closed for an undisclosed transaction value during the week ended September 19th, 2025.
YTD Analysis
- YTD’s total M&A consideration is up 5.9% from the same period in 2024, while the deal count is down approximately 35.1%. However, transactions targeting the U.S. are up 32.1% from roughly $315 million to $416 million. LTM, 58 M&A transactions have closed with a total disclosed value of $1.20B, up 2.3% from 2024. This reflects that the LTM total is composed of 14 weeks of 2024 and 38 weeks of 2025.
Pending Risk Deal Arb Analysis
Valuation Gap Analysis
- The Valuation Gap
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- The Valuation Gap measures the difference between the EV/ NTM EBITDA multiple for the largest MSOs and the same multiple for the next smaller group. This measure has been a significant driver of M&A activity since a larger gap creates an opportunity for more accretive transactions.
- The companies included in the large-cap index are Cresco (CL: CSE), Curaleaf (CURA: CSE), Green Thumb (GTII: CSE), TerrAscend (TSND: TSX), Trulieve (TRUL: CSE), and Verano (VRNO: CSE). The small company index now includes Ascend (AAWH: OTCQX), Cannabist (CBST: CBOE), and Jushi (JUSHF: OTCQX). The gap increased from -0.885 to -0.569 on September 19, 2025. At -0.569, the gap suggests that, in aggregate, the climate is inhospitable for transactions in which Tier 1 MSOs acquire Tier 2 MSOs. This may not be the case for individual combinations, however, as there are broad valuation metric spreads between the companies in each tier. For example, TerrAscend, GTI, and Curaleaf all trade well above the Tier 1 average, while Ascend trades well below the Tier 2 average. The overlap of licenses has been a major restraining factor inhibiting public/public acquisitions. The difficulty of selling duplicated operations in a capital-tight environment is a key reason. Eventually, however, we believe the industry will consolidate. To achieve this, MSOs may need to accept that valuation multiples will not return to 2021 levels, even if S3 is enacted. The upside catalysts of S3 and SAFER are currently stalling any movement in that direction, much like they are locking up the equity market.
- Historically, the vast majority of M&A transactions in the Cannabis Industry have involved public companies acquiring private companies, and the recent Vireo transactions continue this trend.
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