Trends & Transactions in Cannabis Middle Market M&A

Michelle Mabugat is a corporate and transactional attorney representing entrepreneurs, start-ups and middle-market companies. She advises companies and their principals across a broad range of business sectors, but she has deep industry expertise in branded consumer products, manufacturing & distribution, commercial cannabis and industrial hemp. 

Frequently acting as general counsel for her clients, Michelle’s practice is broad in scope and she has extensive experience in handling significant transactions whether it’s a merger or acquisition, capital raise, joint venture or licensing deal. Her early experience in litigation paired with her bold approach to business strategy allows her to creatively get deals done.

Michelle is also consistently recognized as one of the most prominent attorneys in the emerging cannabis space. With over a decade of experience handling cannabis and hemp-related matters, nothing gives her more satisfaction than helping cutting-edge companies thrive in highly-regulated industries.  Due to her significant industry and regulatory experience, she has become the go-to lawyer for handling high-stakes cannabis matters. Seasoned in crisis management, she regularly appears before state and local regulatory agencies to defend clients in enforcement actions and administrative hearings. 

In addition to speaking at industry events about the need to advance DE&I in the cannabis industry, Michelle is equally dedicated to the advancement of social justice and policy reform issues. As a member of the Legislative Advocacy Committee for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, she helps identify bills and public policy issues that will impact the LGBT business community. In her roles with the Cannabis Equity Retailers Association, the Cannabis Pro Bono Panel for the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the Minority Cannabis Business Association, she provides pro bono counsel for restorative justice initiatives. She has also provided pro bono counsel to low-income applicants who qualify for the Los Angeles Cannabis Social Equity Program.

Vanita Spaulding is the Cannabis Practice Leader and Valuation Partner at SingerLewak LLP, a nationally recognized top 100 accounting, advisory and consulting firm.

Ms. Spaulding has more than 35 years of valuation experience providing valuation services in many industries, and to clients in the cannabis industry since 2015. Vanita has a diverse background in a myriad of valuation projects including allocation of purchase price ASC805 and impairment testing ASC350, common stock valuation and share-based compensation valuation IRC 409A and ASC718, fairness and solvency opinions, intellectual property analyses, pre-acquisition financing, merger and acquisition pricing, and various litigation support projects relating to partnership dissolution, shareholder disputes, breach of contract, lost profits, marital dissolution, personal injury losses, federal estate tax and gift tax, and eminent domain.

She has qualified as an expert to perform litigation support services for more than 35 years, and has appeared as an expert witness before the California Superior Courts of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, other courts in the US, as well as the American Arbitration Association.

She has been active in the American Society of Appraisers as a course instructor and developer for many years and served as the president of the Los Angeles Chapter in 1994. She is also a past member of the International Business Valuation Committee, past Chairman of the ASA Advanced Business Valuation Conference held in October 2007 and is currently serving on the Appraisal Issues Task Force (AITF). Recently she co-chaired the IRS ASA Symposium on valuation issues in Los Angeles. She has presented before live audiences, and on broadcast webcasts for many years, on business valuation topics and on cannabis valuation topics. Links to webcasts are on the SingerLewak website www.singerlewak.com