Tilray was founded in 2013. It was originally incorporated under the umbrella of Seattle-based Privateer Holdings. Tilray became the first medical cannabis producer in North America to be GMP certified in December 2016. In July 2018, the company became the first cannabis company to IPO on the NASDAQ and trades under the ticket symbol TLRY. In September 2018, Tilray became the first Canadian cannabis company to legally export medical cannabis to the U.S. for a clinical trial. In December 2018, the company signed a deal with Novartis subsidiary Sandoz to sell, distribute and co-brand Tilray's non-smokeable/non-combustible medical cannabis products in legal markets worldwide. On June 19, 2018, Tilray announced the launch of High Park Company which would operate in the adult recreational cannabis market to establish unique adult-use brands in Canada upon its legalization.
IPO
Tilray made history by being the first cannabis company to debut on a major U.S. stock exchange in July 2018. TLRY debuted on the NASDAQ at a price of $17 per share, and rose dramatically in September 2018 to $214 per share and then crashed to $29 per share by August 2019.
Global Operations and Exports
Tilray owns and operates global subsidiaries to serve the medical cannabis market in jurisdictions where it is legal and regulated:
Tilray Portugal Unipessoal, Lda., located in Cantanhede, Portugal is $22.29 million facility including indoor, outdoor and greenhouse cultivation sites, in addition to research labs, processing, packaging and stribution sites for medical cannabis. The EU campus has a GMP certification and covers 5.9 acres.
Tilray Australia New Zealand Pty. Ltd. - located in Sydney, Australia
High Park Holdings Ltd., located in London, Ontario is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tilray Inc, is a processing, distribution and research affiliate of High Park Farms and High Park Company.
Strategic Partnerships & Acquisitions
In 2018, Tilray announced it had entered into global alliance with Sandoz, a division of Novartis to co-brand and distribute non-combustible medical cannabis products in global markets where it is legally authorized. The Globe and Mail dubbed this partnership as ‘big-pharma’s first foray into cannabis’. Also in 2018, Tilray announced a $100-million joint venture with the world's largest brewer, AbInBev to research non-alcohol Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol -infused beverages, through their respective subsidiaries Labatt Breweries and High Park Company. In 2019, Tilray signed a creative $250-million revenue-sharing deal with U.S. based brand company Authentic Brands Group. The partnership will see Tilray leveraging some of ABG's biggest brand names like, Juicy Couture, Greg Norman and Nine West to create cannabis products, powered exclusively by Tilray. ABG has a portfolio of over 50 brands. In February 2019, Tilray acquired Manitoba Harvest, the world's largest hemp foods manufacturer, for $317 million from Compass Diversified Holdings. The acquisition allowed Tilray to use Manitoba Harvest's retail distribution network to enter the U.S. CBD market. Manitoba Harvest's products are available in approximately 13,000 U.S. stores and 3,600 in Canada. Also in 2019, Tilray entered into an agreement with Natura Naturals Holdings which owns 155,000 square feet of licensed cultivation greenhouses in Leamington, Ontario. The acquisition doubled the cultivation ability of the company in Canada. In May 2020, Tilray announced closure of the High Park Gardens site in order to pursue cost reduction. In July 2019, Tilray acquired U.K.-based Smith & Sinclair to develop CBD-infused edibles, giving Tilray another way to differentiate itself in the CBD market. In August 2019, Tilray acquired Alberta cannabis retailer Four20.
Clinical Trials
In partnership with University of Sydney, NSW Government, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, Tilray participated in a clinical trial testing the efficacy and tolerability of medical cannabis as treatment for chemotherapy induced nausea & vomiting. Led by The Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto, Canada, Tilray provided 2:100, the highest concentration of Cannabidiol available in Canada, to test the efficacy and tolerability of medical cannabis oil as treatment for pediatric epilepsy/dravet syndrome. The study showed favourable results. In partnership with the University of British Columbia, Tilray provided medical cannabis products used to test medical cannabis as treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. In partnership with the Grupo Español de Investigación en Neurooncología GEINO, in Spain, Tilray supplied medical cannabis products for the trial testing the efficacy and tolerability of medical cannabis as treatment for glioblastoma. In August 2019, Tilray announced a partnership with New York University and shipped CBD to the school so that researchers could study its potential ability to treat alcohol use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. In the same month, Tilray signed an agreement with Cannamedical Pharma GmbH to export $3.3 million worth of medical cannabis from its Portugal facility to German patients, marking Tilray's first export from Tilray Portugal Unipessoal, Lda. In partnership with New York University, Tilray imported medical cannabis to the U.S. in October 2019 to support a clinical trial studying its efficacy in treating disorders caused by breast cancer treatments. In December of the same year, Tilray announced a research partnership with Coimbra University in Portugal.
