Bud Brokers // Buy-Side Advisory
Find the license
that isn't for sale.
Who engages buy-side advisory
Acquirers we represent
- Multi-state operators
- Entering a new state or adding density. Bring approval experience and capital, and a diligence process that expects institutional books.
- Regional operators
- Adding a store, a cultivation license or a delivery permit inside a state they already understand. Often the fastest to approval.
- Emerging operators
- Single-license owners expanding, or license holders acquiring an operating store. Structure and financing matter most here.
- Cannabis-focused capital
- Family offices, sponsors and funds that understand plant-touching risk and hold for the long arc.
- Real estate investors
- Sale-leaseback and cannabis-property buyers, where the real estate is separated from the operating business.
Criteria before contacts
Criteria before contacts
A buy-side engagement begins with a written acquisition mandate: states and metros, license types, size range by revenue and after-tax cash flow, ownership and true-party-of-interest constraints, deal structure preferences, financing plan, and the operating plan after approval. The mandate is what lets us say no quickly and yes credibly.
- Market
- States, metros, adult-use or medical, license caps and saturation.
- License types
- Retail, cultivation, processing, delivery, microbusiness, vertical.
- Size
- Revenue, normalized after-tax cash flow, store count, canopy.
- Ownership fit
- Who will be the true parties of interest, and whether they can pass background review in that state.
- Structure
- Equity versus asset, rollover, earnout tolerance, seller-note appetite, real estate.
- Capital and timing
- Equity available, financing expected, proof of funds, and when you need to be operating.
What is buy-side advisory in cannabis?
How off-market sourcing works
How off-market cannabis sourcing works
Step 01
Map
Build the target universe from state license registries and score every licensee against the mandate.
License registry plus Bud Authority market intelligence
Step 02
Rank
Local search share, map-pack visibility, traffic trend and review velocity tell us which stores actually own their market.
Measured, not guessed
Step 03
Approach
Direct, discreet owner outreach. No mass mail. The acquirer stays anonymous until it helps.
Confidential
Step 04
Screen
Preliminary financial, operating and compliance review against the mandate before your time is spent.
Regulator file plus books
Step 05
Introduce
A structured principal-to-principal meeting with the hard questions already asked.
Under NDA
Step 06
Structure and close
Valuation view, deal structure, an LOI built around the approval gate, then diligence and filing coordination to the wire.
Through change-of-ownership approval
Listing versus off-market
Why the best cannabis deals are never listed
| Criteria | Dispensary-for-sale listing | Off-market, through Bud Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Where it starts | A public page | A private conversation with an owner who has not decided to sell |
| Who else is looking | Everyone who saw the page | Usually nobody |
| How it is priced | Shopped, so priced to the last bidder | Negotiated on fit, structure and approval certainty |
| What decides it | Whoever pays most, fastest | Trust, fit, and a buyer who can pass ownership review |
| How long to develop | Instant, and worth about that | Months, and worth every one of them |
Owners who are not for sale will talk to a team that already understands their business. That conversation is the source of proprietary deal flow.
Buy-side questions
Before you register
4 answered
- 01What is buy-side advisory in cannabis?
- Representation of the acquirer: defining the mandate, sourcing targets including licensees not publicly for sale, evaluating them, structuring an offer around the state's approval process, and coordinating diligence, filings and closing. The advisor works for the buyer, not the seller.
- 02How is off-market deal flow different from a dispensary-for-sale listing?
- A listing has been shopped to everyone and priced accordingly. An off-market conversation starts before an owner has decided to sell, is usually exclusive, and turns on trust and fit as much as on price. It takes more work to develop and produces better deals.
- 03Do you take a fee from both sides?
- No. We represent one side of any transaction. Fee structure is discussed privately and documented in the engagement agreement.
- 04Can you help with acquisition financing?
- We help shape a structure that can actually be financed in cannabis, including seller notes, earnouts and real-estate carve-outs, and coordinate with your lenders and advisors. We do not provide financing or investment advice.
The buyer network
Tell us the mandate. We will tell you what is out there.
// notice
Bud Brokers provides business transaction and M&A advisory services. Bud Brokers does not provide legal, tax, accounting, investment, securities or regulatory advice. Services and transaction structures may vary by jurisdiction. Each party should retain its own qualified legal, tax, accounting and regulatory professionals. Nothing on this website constitutes an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to purchase any security or licensed cannabis interest.