Beckham-backed cannabis group plans IPO

Cellular Goods, a producer of cannabis-based products that is backed by David Beckham, is planning to float on the London Stock Exchange.

The company said it expected the initial public offering to value it at about £20m, making it the first London-listed "pure-play" cannabinoid brands business after the LSE allowed companies to float if they produced the drug for medicinal use.

Cellular Goods said it would apply for a standard listing and raise about £8m including an offer to retail investors. It will use the money to complete and launch skincare and topical athletic recovery products using cannabis made in a lab.

Cellular Goods was established in August 2018, the year the UK legalised medical cannabis for specific purposes. It plans to sell through online and physical retailers and on its own website.

Sky News reported that Beckham, the multimillionaire former footballer, had bought a stake in Cellular Goods through his DB Ventures company. Beckham thinks cannabis-based consumer products have good growth potential, Sky said.

Alexis Abraham, Cellular Goods's chief executive, said: "We are delighted to be the very first pure-play consumer cannabinoid company to list on the LSE. A London stock market listing will provide us with the profile, credibility and access to global capital to drive our growth."

The UK Centre for Medicinal Cannabis found that in 2019 1.3m British consumers were spending more than £300m a year in total on non-intoxicating cannabis products. It predicted the market could be worth almost £1bn by 2025, Cellular Products said.