On November 9th, at The Savoy in London, the Talman Group will host its fall members-only investor gathering. On paper, it’s a one-day program. Panels in the morning, startup pitches after the break, and a fireside chat to close. Look at the speaker list, though, and something else becomes evident.
Aurora’s Senior Vice President leading the UK and Europe, Andreas Dotterweich, will deliver the opening keynote. A few hours later, Torsten Greif, a member of Curaleaf’s board, sits on the German policy panel. Max Narr, who helped orchestrate the Sanity Group acquisition by Organigram and now sits on Organigram’s board, takes a seat on the UK panel. And the day closes with Canopy’s Chief Business Development Officer, Christelle Gedeon, the dealmaker who has closed more multi-million-dollar cannabis deals than arguably any other person in the industry, in a fireside chat unpacking Canopy’s recent UK announcement.
Aurora. Curaleaf. Organigram. Canopy. Four of the biggest names in global cannabis, in one room, on a Monday afternoon, in the middle of the most closely watched consolidation season yet.
That doesn’t happen by accident.
Executives at public companies are careful people. Every word gets weighed. Every appearance gets a second look from the lawyers. When they all accept the same invitation, it’s worth asking, “Why this room?”
The answer starts with the man who built it.
Alex Rogers got his start in cannabis as an activist in the early 1990s, under Jack Herer. He went on to build the International Cannabis Business Conference (ICBC) into Europe’s most respected cannabis business conference. He then built Talman House, which is something different. It’s small and private. Members are investors. Family offices, private equity and venture capital firms, and the industry’s cream of the crop and top operators all shop for opportunities.
Rising stars pitch for eight minutes, shark tank style, and then take seven minutes of hard questions. Instead of booths and ticket sales, you have capital and the people who want it. Speaking of capital, one Talman member with significant capital to deploy will be making a “call for decks.” In other words, there will be money in the room placing an order.
That model is the draw. The leaders come because the audience is real. The audience comes because the leaders are there. Rogers spent years making that cycle work, and the London lineup shows it.
It goes beyond the big four. Michael Sassano of Somaí, Jon Robson of Mamedica, Kim Rael of Azuca, Dan Cook of True Terpenes, and David Hyde, who brokers cannabis M&A around the world, have all confirmed. Kraig Fox, former CEO of High Times and current CEO of Reklaim Credit, will present on what the recent move of medical cannabis to Schedule III in the US means for credit and banking, and how the UK and Europe could be affected. Partners from Fieldfisher, Irwin Mitchell, and gunnercooke, leading legal fir
