Scythian Real Estate Continues to Close Deals During Pandemic

June 10, 2020

Thanks to the Denver Business Journal for its recent feature story about how Scythian Real Estate continues to close deals during the coronavirus pandemic. The article provides helpful background on the cannabis real estate sector and also identifies Scythian Real Estate as a leading voice in the sector.

Denver Business Journal Writes Feature Story on Scythian Real Estate

Please read the whole article – it is highly informative and provides a good introduction to cannabis real estate and how sale-leaseback deals work.

For those without access to the Denver Business Journal, here are a few excerpts describing Scythian’s industry expertise and leadership in the relatively untapped cannabis real estate market:

Denver-based Scythian Real Estate, which specializes in cannabis real estate, aims to help those [cannabis] companies find a happy medium. For some companies, that means a sale-leaseback agreement, in which Scythian buys the property from the cannabis business and then immediately leases it back to the former owner.

Such agreements can help cannabis business owners raise money without having to give up equity in their company — a “non-dilutive” transaction, in industry parlance. For companies who would rather focus on day-to-day operations, a sale-leaseback can also mean no longer having to worry about managing a real estate portfolio.

. . . .

[Scythian Real Estate partner Randy] Roberts said Scythian primarily works with established operators who have been less impacted by the coronavirus than smaller organizations. Because of that, Scythian’s deal pipeline remains strong.

And Roberts is encouraged by the cannabis industry’s designation as essential during stay-at-home orders. He hopes it will put more pressure on states that have yet to legalize cannabis.

“I think it’s going to be a less stigmatized industry going forward,” Roberts said. “I think really well-capitalized, strong cannabis companies are going to have good opportunities to capture customers and potentially grow through acquisition.”