Business Law - Finance 101: Trainspotting the Issues in Cannabis Business Finance and Acquisitions

Alicia Ashcraft Related Seminars and Products

Managing Partner

Ashcraft & Barr LLP

Alicia Ashcraft is the managing partner of Ashcraft & Barr LLP. A skilled transactional, corporate and administrative law attorney, her practice encompasses complex commercial transactions, corporate governance, and regulatory compliance matters. With more than 20 years of experience representing clients in highly regulated industries such as cannabis and hemp, gaming, liquor and transportation services, Alicia advises businesses through all phases of operation – from startups, through financing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, land use and licensing. Since 2013, Alicia has focused her practice on counseling marijuana and hemp businesses through the regulatory process and emerging legal issues. This includes all phases of the application and operation process.

Marc Hauser Related Seminars and Products

Chief of Staff

Jardín Premium Cannabis Dispensary

Marc Hauser is widely recognized as one of the leading advisors to the U.S. cannabis industry. Prior to forming Hauser Advisory, Marc was a deal and capital markets lawyer for 24 years, and led the cannabis practice group at global law firm Reed Smith LLP. Peer review Chambers USA and Legal 500 named him as a Leading Lawyer who “knows the [cannabis] industry and players through and through.” Within the industry, Marc has represented market-leading operators and ancillary businesses; private equity, venture capital, hedge, and credit funds; banks and REITs; investment banks and service providers; and CPG and SaaS companies. 

Previously, Marc served as internal deal counsel at Equity Group Investments, a private investment company founded by the late Sam Zell. Marc advised Sam and his team for 15 years on billions of dollars of complex investment, acquisition, and restructuring transactions across industries and asset classes, developing a deep understanding of capital markets, opportunistic investing, tax structuring, and distressed situations. 

Marc’s widely-read weekly newsletter, Cannabis Musings (cannabismusings.substack.com), has provided a unique perspective on the cannabis industry since 2018. 

He holds a BA from Northwestern University (‘95), and a JD (cum laude) from the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (‘98), where he was a member of the Law Review, and is currently an Adjunct Professor co-teaching Cannabis Law, Business & Policy.

Margaret Butler Related Seminars and Products

Armstrong Teasdale LLP

Margaret Isa Butler has nearly 20 years of experience, primarily focused on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and alternative investments. She regularly represents private equity fund managers, institutional investors, independent sponsors and family offices across the investment strategy spectrum. Margaret has experience handling multimillion-dollar deals, as well as those ranging into the billions of dollars, and her experience also extends to private placements, real estate development projects and limited partner investments, debt and equity co-investments and direct investments. She has also advised clients on conflicts and other governance issues for funds, corporations and other entities. Further, her substantial deal advisory and implementation experience allows her to execute sophisticated private equity and hedge fund transactions, design custom structures for investments, and engage in all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, including public company takeover defense and shareholder activism. Margaret’s extensive experience is rooted in her background as an investment banker for a multinational financial services company, as well as in her education, having earned an M.B.A., which enables her to take a multifaceted approach to each transaction.

Donna More Related Seminars and Products

Fox Rothschild LLP

Donna provides compliance, regulatory, corporate and transaction services to clients in Illinois and throughout the United States in highly regulated industries such as gaming, medical cannabis, liquor and promotional contests for companies. Drawing on her experience as general counsel to the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) and her tenure as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney, Donna advises clients on all licensing and regulatory issues in hearings before administrative agencies. She also represents clients in commercial and regulatory disputes involving competitors. Donna regularly represents casinos, video gaming terminal operators, manufacturers and distributors, game developers and other companies involved in the gaming industry in Illinois and nationwide. As the first general counsel to the IGB, she was involved in the process of legalizing gaming in Illinois and helped write the regulations governing the state’s gaming industry that remain in place today. This first-hand knowledge enables Donna to provide extensive insight and counsel to companies in the gaming industry in Illinois regarding licensing, compliance, investigations and commercial disputes. Additionally, she advocates for clients before agency boards and commissions, litigates compliance issues in administrative and disciplinary hearings, and negotiates settlements.