Charlotte’s Web Holdings announces acquisition of Abacus Health Products

The planned merger of the two companies has now been finalized

The previously announced plan between Charlotte’s Web Hemp (CNQ: CWEB, and Abacus Health Products, Inc. has been completed. Under this agreement, Charlotte’s Web, a global leader in hemp extract and cannabidiol (CBD) products, acquired all issued and outstanding shares of Abacus. This also means that Abacus shares will receive 0.85 of a common share of Charlotte’s Web.

Abacus Health is one of the leaders of over-the-counter topical products made with pharmaceutical ingredients and hemp extract, and Charlotte’s Web is the largest vertically integrated hemp-derived CBD company. This acquisition means that, combined, the companies can distribute products to more than 21,000 unique retail locations; also, there will be limited shelf overlap due to complementary positions across the many categories of topicals and edibles. Besides that, Charlotte’s Web recently added 1,100 new drug stores and over 700 pet stores to their list of customers. Abacus did its part, too, by adding more than 5,000 retail doors through the signing of a new retail partner.

Abacus has some popular brands like CBD MEDIC and Harmony Hemp, and, for professional practitioners, Abacus’ CBD CLINIC brand. These products bring substantial selling opportunities available through the company’s respective distribution networks. Also, starting next month, several topical products from Abacus will be available to purchase at Charlotte’s Web’s leading Direct to the Consumer (DTC) e-commerce platform.

“The addition of Abacus Health cements a market-leading position in both topical and ingestible products in the CBD category, representing approximately a 33% market share of the U.S. CBD food/drug/mass retail channel,” said Deanie Elsner, CEO of Charlotte’s Web. “We thank the founders and team members of both Charlotte’s Web and Abacus for their vision and hard work to build our respective vital brands. We are now one dynamic team and mission-driven company.”

Also, out of this new partnership, Perry Antelman, CEO of Abacus since 2016, will join Charlotte’s Web as the Executive Vice President and President of Topicals.