ARVADO, Colo.–The CUSO launched by Partner Colorado Credit Union eight years ago to provide financial services to the cannabis industry has been bought for $185 million by New York-based Northern Lights Acquisition Corp.
The company is to be listed on NASDAQ. Northern Lights Acquisition Corp. is a blank check company that was formed for the specific purpose of effecting a merger or acquisition
The company is paying $70 million in cash and $115 million in Northern Lights stock for Safe Harbor Financial, which was created by Partner Colorado in the wake of the 2012 vote by Colorado voters to legalize marijuana usage in the state.
That created a situation familiar in many states now where cannabis businesses found themselves sitting on growing piles of cash because most financial institutions would not provide services due to federal prohibitions on cannabis. In the eight years Safe Harbor has operated, it has processed more than $11 billion in transactions, according to Westword.com.
Sundie Seefried, who as CEO of Partner Colorado oversaw the launch of the CUSO and then in subsequent years frequently appeared at industry events to discuss the company’s experience, eventually left to take over as CEO of Safe Harbor Financial on a full-time basis. According to the report, she will remain in that position following the acquisition.
Expanded Offerings
Safe Harbor Financial saw $153 million in deposits in 2015, a figure that has increased to around $4 billion in 2021, according to the company, Westword reported.
In addition to processing deposits, Safe Harbor has expanded to offer other services that include commercial loans and processing business mergers. After Safe Harbor becomes part of Northern Lights, Seefried told Westword that more services for marijuana businesses will become available.
"Once our clients in Colorado got their depository services taken care of and weren't dealing in cash all the time, they started getting licenses in other states," Seefried told Westword.com. "We want to add investment services, broker-dealer services and the same kind of services our clients are getting thrown out of banks for."
Plan is to Expand Outside Colorado
Around 60 of Safe Harbor's clients are Colorado businesses, according to Seefried; once the deal is closed, Northern Lights plans to increase Safe Harbor's reach outside of Colorado, Westword stated.
In a statement announcing the acquisition, Northern Lights said,
“Safe Harbor is one of the only multi-state financial service organizations to successfully navigate the highly regulated cannabis banking industry, providing services that operators in other industries take for granted.
The company added that Safe Harbor "is uniquely positioned to scale."