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At that point, up to 70 per cent of products for sale at its retail locations would come from its own supply, with the balance shipped in from other growers.

Alberta became the second province after Manitoba to signal that private operators would be responsible for retail sales, though it hasn’t announced any details, including whether producers will be permitted to sell.

Dean Heizer, LivWell’s executive director, said his company was looking for an investment target where it could have a “direct impact on the structuring and the building of the business, pretty much from the ground up.”

“We are a vertically integrated, seed-to-sale company, and this gave us an opportunity in Canada to do the same thing,” Heizer said.

LivWell was ranked the top American marijuana producer, processor and retailer for the past two years by the Cannabis Business Executive, a Virginia-based online publication, which estimated the company’s revenues last year crested $100 million.

Rob Meagher, editor-in-chief of the company that publishes the rankings, said the Canadian pot market is attractive to American companies like LivWell because producers here can secure export permits to send medical cannabis to other countries with liberalized marijuana laws.

Lucrative new markets are opening in the European Union, Australia and parts of Latin America, but American producers are forbidden from exporting their marijuana.

Big Canadian producers, such as Aurora, Canopy and B.C.-based Tilray, have been increasing their international footprints in an effort to secure market share.

Kujath said 51st Parallel’s immediate goal is to become an established producer in Alberta, though he does plan to expand internationally over the longer term.

“The game is about getting your … revenues increased because you have more consumers that have access to legally regulated cannabis,” Meagher said.

“That’s why, I believe, they’ve invested in Canada.”

rsouthwick@postmedia.com