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What Makes Your Cannabis Business Buyable Right Now?
It’s a fraught question for many operators: How attractive is my cannabis business to potential buyers in the current market? M&A experts offer five characteristics buyers are seeking for entrepreneurs considering or curious about their businesses’ potential in an exit. Plus, five ways to make your business more attractive to buyers.
Adobe Stock | Nastassia
Paul Barbagallo
October 16, 2026
Regardless of when you embarked on your cannabis entrepreneurial journey, there comes a time when an exit ramp looks attractive. Is that time … now?
Five years ago, you probably could’ve sold your cannabis business in the U.S. for five to six times your annual revenue – or eight to 10 times your EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), depending on your company, of course, and your market segment. Today those multiples are closer to one to three times your revenue and four to five times your EBITDA, based on recent mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the sector. Quite a falloff from the frothy, hypergrowth days of 2021 and 2022, when cannabis was being legalized in a handful of states and investors were betting big on expansion.
While a possible federal rescheduling of marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to Schedule III could certainly help revive a dealmaking frenzy in the industry, for now company founders and executives will have to contend with a far more strategic and selective M&A market.
Related: DEA Judge Halts Cannabis Rescheduling Process, May Reopen Hearing Record
The deals that are getting done today reflect a targeted approach to growth, consolidation, and exits. According to Viridian Capital Advisors, 61 M&A, equity, and debt transactions closed in the first half of 2026, totaling approximately $2.22 billion in disclosed capital – almost double the $1.18 billion recorded in the same period last year. “But the story was one of two distinct speeds: an exceptionally active first quarter driven by a wave of top-tier MSO (multi-state operator) refinancings, followed by a markedly quieter second quarter as operators paused major capital decisions ahead of the June 29 [Drug Enforcement Agency] rescheduling hearing,” Viridian wrote in its most recent “Cannabis Deal Tracker” report. As the law firm Dykema observed in a similar report, recent cannabis transactions have mostly involved “strategic entry into specific markets, asset-light capital structures, and innovative financing mechanisms that meet the evolving needs of the industry as it navigates evolving regulatory, competitive, and financial landscapes.”