About Our Speaker:
After more than 40 years practicing in corporate finance and merger and acquisition matters, primarily with large law firms and for large companies, Steve joined Brennan, Manna & Diamond as managing partner of its Scottsdale office, offering the value imbedded in the experience, skills, contacts, and relationships developed representing both large institutional and entrepreneurial clients with the personal attention, agility, and flexibility of a boutique.
A former top 100 bank general counsel and Wall Street trained corporate M&A, corporate finance and banking lawyer, since 2015, Steve’s been involved in more than $2 billion of cannabis M&A and debt equity finance transactions. He represents institutional acquirers and funders, including family offices and ultra-high net worth investors, and works with owner-operators dealing with institutional players. One of Steve’s focuses is on the intersection between banking and cannabis and the opportunities and challenges it presents to each.
In 2021 he organized and moderated a webinar on bank lending to the cannabis industry, which was cosponsored by the AZ, OH, CO, and Utah bankers associations. The webinar closed registration at 500, including about 350 bankers from more than 200 banks.
Steve’s cannabis representations have focused on individual-state and multi- state acquisition and financing transactions, significant commercial arrangements, and governance and regulatory matters. He has represented public and private company acquirers, institutional and high net worth equity and debt funders, as well as businesses seeking capital from those and other sources. He has also represented both owner-operators in connection with various joint venture, licensing, production and similar arrangements, ancillary businesses serving the cannabis industry, and sellers of substantial ownership interests in those businesses.
About the Topic:
Steve's remarks will address foundational information regarding where the Cannabis industry is today (nationally, in Ohio), some historical insight on how it got there, what we know about what’s going on at the federal and state levels, and what the emerging issues and opportunities might be. He will also address the elephant in the room: the conflict between state and federal law (assuming no changes before the November election in Ohio).