Intellectual property of cannabis brand High Times is for sale again

The intellectual property of cannabis brand High Times, including its fading iconic magazine, Cannabis Cup events and trademarks, are back on the market, MJBizDaily has learned.

The assets, which also include photographs, joke books, calendars and internet-domain names such as 420.com are for sale until March 4, according to marketing materials from Green Life Business Group, a San Diego brokerage house handling the liquidation.

It appears a “six-figure offer” for 420.com, disclosed to MJBizDaily in May by Green Life CEO Drew Mathews, failed to materialize.

That domain was one of several assets from Los Angeles-based Hightimes Holding Corp. that were up for sale when the parent of High Times entered receivership last April.

In late November, Mathews told MJBizDaily the asset sale was nearing a conclusion.

“We are in escrow with a group right now, and we’re hoping to close by the end of the year,” he said.

MJBizDaily could not confirm if the escrow sale closed, and Mathews declined to answer related questions via email.

“I have no comments,” he responded.

High Times operations in limbo

Getting a true read on the active operations of High Times has been difficult given its ongoing wind-down and employee turnover.

The server for hightimes.com has been down for more than a week, at least, according to a website that tracks such developments.

The last post on the company’s Instagram account, on Jan. 13, touted available judging kits to purchase for a Cannabis Cup competition in Massachusetts.

The last published High Times magazine issue appears to have been in September, according to an archive listing.

No business licenses could chill bidders

Unlike High Times’ marketed asset sale – which included five stores, a distribution, manufacturing and delivery operation and a cultivation business – the latest auction does not include any marijuana business licenses.

That omission, coupled with intellectual-property (IP) assets tied to a struggling legacy media brand, will likely draw few bidders, according to finance experts and other industry sources.

“Because it’s IP-only now, we expect one offer, maybe two,” said Jason Piazza, director of real estate for WeCann, an Orange County, California-based firm that handled the asset sale of distributor Herbl after that company’s 2023 collapse.

Piazza told MJBizDaily that several WeCann clients made a move last year for High Times’ assets, but an overbid hearing and/or deal failed to materialize.

“The clients we had last year who wanted the licenses aren’t interested in the IP,” he added.

According to CRB Monitor, which tracks and monitors licenses in the regulated marijuana industry, two inactive retail licenses in Oklahoma are listed under High Times Dispensary.

A conditional retail license in New Jersey was pending as of June 2023, according to CRB, but a search of dispensary listings on the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission failed to register “High Times.”

CRB, which is based in Nashville, Tennessee, reported in April 2024 that High Times shuttered at least three of its branded marijuana stores in California, leaving affected employees and vendors in the dark.

Third time around

The IP sale is believed to be the third time these High Times assets have gone on the market since September 2023, when Canada-based Lucy Scientific Discovery announced an all-stock deal to acquire the intellectual property and “18 licensing agreements across various product categories”

According to a February 2024 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing for its fourth quarter and annual report, Lucy Scientific Discovery said it “failed to close its planned acquisition of High Times,” including its IP and licensing agreements.

The company also said the growth of its business depended on completing the acquisition of High Times and another company, Bluesky.

Three months later, the IP assets were again up for sale, with Green Life handling the proceedings on behalf of Kevin Singer, a court-appointed receiver.

Singer, who also served as receiver for defunct Herbl, was terminated from his High Times role in June 2024 by Stephen Kunkle, receiver for High Times’ lender ExWorks.

Lucy Scientific’s shares were delisted from the Nasdaq in July 2024 after failing to comply with equity requirements and missing quarterly report filing deadlines.

Chris Casacchia can be reached at chris.casacchia@mjbizdaily.com.