Australia’s richest woman makes a stunning $15million investment in marijuana

Australia’s richest woman has made a major investment into a medicinal marijuana company with the industry set to be worth $1.5billion by 2025.

Gina Rinehart, who is worth $31billion, and her mining and agricultural company Hancock Prospecting is injecting $15million into Little Green Pharma, a Perth-based marijuana company.

With her investment, Rinehart will own more than 10 per cent of the company, which saw its shares climb 7.7 per cent on Tuesday since the announcement. 

Rinehart’s investment into Little Green Pharma will fund the company’s acquisition of another marijuana cultivation production in Denmark in the state’s far south-west. 

‘We have been speaking for some time about the need to increase our production capacity and the Denmark Facility not only gives us the cultivation and manufacturing capacity we need but does so immediately,’ managing director Fleta Solomon said.

We won’t be constrained by the two-year build and permitting time required to expand our existing West Australian Facility.

‘We are well positioned in the market to capitalise on the brand equity LGP has built in Europe and Australia, with the Denmark Facility providing immediate access to medical grade product at volumes that will allow us the opportunity to accelerate our growth strategy.’

Market research by consultancy company Prohibition Partners found the medicinal marijuana industry was set to exceed $1billion in 2023 and soar to $1.5billion by 2025.

So far only the Australian Capital Territory has legalised cannabis for recreational use.

Legislation passed in September, 2019 and was implemented from January 31, 2020 allowing adults to possess up to 50 grams and grow two plants. 

The medicinal marijuana industry in the United States topped US$7.2billion or AU$9.6billion at the end of 2020, and could be worth as much as US$70billion by 2028.