Canopy Growth acquires hemp company AgriNextUSA

Canopy Growth Corp. has acquired AgriNextUSA, in a move to boost its hemp business in the United States.

Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Canopy says AgriNextUSA chief executive Geoff Whaling will join Canopy Growth USA as a strategic adviser. It says Whaling is considered a hemp pioneer and a leading advocate for the sector in the United States.

Earlier this year, Canopy was granted a licence by the state of New York to process and produce hemp, a member of the cannabis plant family.

The Ontario-based company has announced plans to invest between US$100 million and US$150 million at its proposed New York hemp operations.

The U.S. legalized the cultivation of hemp late last year as a source of cannabidiol (CBD), one of the compounds also found in cannabis.