DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sanitas Peak Financial, LLC today announced the launch of a $50 million private equity fund. The fund aims to invest in all aspects of industrial hemp production including farming, extraction, processing, laboratory testing and distribution.
With years of investment experience in the hemp space, Sanitas Peak partners, E. Nicholas Mortimer, Charles Wellso and Zeid Masri leverage their extensive background in entrepreneurship, capital raising, underwriting and M&A in support of investment portfolio companies. Throughout the investment process, Sanitas Peak provides financing and business consulting services that help hemp farmers, manufacturers and distributors create more efficient supply chains and operating systems, thereby improving overall operating results. This holistic approach to investing serves to create long-term value for investment portfolio companies and investors, alike. To ensure investor interests are aligned, Charles and Nicholas invest their own money in every transaction.
“We’ve been on the ground in Colorado, investing alongside hemp farmers, manufacturers and distributors for the past two years,” said Charles Wellso, Sanitas Peak Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “We have an intimate understanding of the challenges faced by hemp producers and believe that a hands-on investment approach can help each of our portfolio companies thrive, while unlocking the incredible potential of industrial hemp.”
Industrial hemp has long been overlooked for its health, industrial and agricultural benefits due to regulatory restrictions, as well as a lack of financing and infrastructure development. This is poised to change with today’s Presidential signing of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill. The hemp market in the U.S. is projected to hit $1.65 billion in 2021, six times what it is now according to the Marijuana Business Journal. In addition, federal legalization could triple the overall hemp market to $2.5 billion by 2022, with $1.3 billion of those sales from hemp-derived CBD products, according to New Frontier Data, a cannabis market research firm.
“Our experience has shown us that the lack of funding and infrastructure in the hemp space, has resulted in market fragmentation, inconsistent production standards and underdeveloped processing and manufacturing logistics,” said E. Nicholas Mortimer, Sanitas Peak Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “We believe that by providing both funding and business support to our investment portfolio companies, we can improve these inefficiencies and create sustainable value.”
Investors interested in learning more about Sanitas Peak and the new fund should email info@sanitaspeak.com.
About Sanitas Peak
Sanitas Peak Financial, LLC, is a dynamic partnership committed to helping companies within the industrial hemp space thrive. Partnering with clients by investing its own money in each and every deal, Sanitas Peak uses its expertise to identify strong financial returns for investors and legitimate capital for borrowers. The company brings discernment, integrity and honesty to every opportunity, seeking to activate the vast potential of industrial hemp. For more information, go to https://www.sanitaspeak.com.
About E. Nicholas Mortimer
Nicholas is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Sanitas Peak. He is an entrepreneur and business manager with broad experience in small business operations, finance, sales and customer service.
Prior to founding Sanitas Peak, Nicholas was a commodity futures, equities and Forex trader for the past 13 years. In addition, Nicholas co-founded a unique skincare brand with growing sales in both physical and online retail environments, which he successfully sold in 2012. Previously, Nicholas was a manager for JAG Trading Corporation, a firm on the floor of the COMEX gold futures pit in New York, working with their high volume, private clients including Goldman Sachs.
Nicholas began his career in finance at Oppenheimer & Co., before moving to Kleinwort Benson North America in New York, where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions, valuation analysis, cross border acquisitions and sale mandates. He was involved in several high-profile transactions including the Beecham Group PLC’s $16 billion merger with Smith Kline Beckman Corporation, Pillsbury’s defense against Grand Metropolitan PLC’s $5.23 billion bid and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich’s defense against Robert Maxwell’s $2 billion bid.
Raised in Holland, England, Switzerland and Greece, Nicholas received a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University and earned his MBA Summa Cum Laude from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. He speaks French, Spanish and Greek.
About Charles Wellso
Charles is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Sanitas Peak. A 25-year veteran entrepreneur, Charles has extensive experience in financial markets, marketing and distribution. Previously, he was a principal at Cherry Creek Partners, a Denver-based private equity firm that syndicates investment opportunities in real estate and provides seed capital to start-ups.
Previously, Charles served as director of business development for American Property Solutions, a joint venture between Bitzer & L.C. Fulenwider focusing on bank REO and distressed real estate. Prior to APS, Charles founded GM Limited, a golf licensing distribution company with a substantive roster of brands including Reebok, Greg Norman and Payne Stewart. GM Limited became one of the most successful golf apparel businesses in Hong Kong and China. Charles sold the company in 1997 and has continued to profitably invest in, and act as management consultant to multiple sectors including communications, oil and gas and real estate - areas to which he brings significant energy and acumen.
Previously, Charles was Regional Marketing Manager for a Hong Kong-based, Coca-Cola Licensing operation, overseeing the distribution and marketing in Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong; research analyst for Credit Lyonnais Securities, evaluating potential investments for British merchant banks and global emerging market funds; and on the underwriting and debt syndication desk for Kemper Financial in Chicago, IL.
Charles received a BA from Vassar College and earned an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
About Zeid Masri
Zeid is a Partner at Sanitas Peak Financial and Managing Partner of SilverHaze Partners, LLC (SHP). Over the past 17 years, he has been responsible for managing the private equity portfolios for a number of wealthy families and institutions. He formed SHP in 2000 with the backing of two other family offices to focus on private equity investing. Over that time, SHP formed three private equity vehicles, investing in 15 funds and 25 direct investments. The firm has also raised several single purpose investment vehicles for certain opportunistic deals for its partners.
Prior to this, Zeid was a Vice President at Bessemer Trust Company in the Alternative Asset Management Group and a Principal in the Principal Investing Group at Alex Brown & Sons Asset Management.
He serves as a Director on the Boards of CommuniKids Holdings LLC and the National Children’s Museum. He formally served on the Boards of Downtown Music Publishing, EagleBank, Inc., and Blue Mercury.
Zeid received an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in 1992 and a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University in 1987.
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