Alex Oleinic



Seed-to-sale regulatory compliance technology provider MJ Freeway and the special purpose acquisition company MTech Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:MTEC) announced Monday they have completed a merger and formed a new public company that's listing on the Nasdaq.

What Happened

Through the merger, MTech and MJ Freeway formed Akerna Corp., the first cannabis compliance technology company that will be traded on the exchange. The stock will commence trading June 18 under the symbol "KERN," the companies said.

Former MJ Freeway and MTech equity holders exchanged their securities for Akerna securities. Former shareholders of MJ Freeway now own 62.7% of Akerna's outstanding stock and Mtech investors hold 27.7%. The remaining 9.6% is held by investors in MTech's previously announced private placement.

Jessica Billingsley, the co-founder and CEO of MJ Freeway, is becoming the CEO of Akerna.

She will also serve on the company's board of directors alongside members of MTech's senior leadership team, including Scott Sozio, Tahira Rehmatullah and Douglas Rothschild.

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Why It's Important

For investors, Akerna will represent one more opportunity to buy shares of a cannabis company traded on a major U.S. exchange. Akerna's listing will allow it to pursue more opportunities in the cannabis space, conduct acquisitions and expand its business.

MTech shares were 14.19% higher at $11.99 at the close Monday.

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