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Bank of Montreal broke new ground Wednesday for the “Big Five” Canadian lenders with its participation in a major marijuana deal.

Smiths Falls, Ont.-based Canopy Growth Corp., Canada’s largest licensed producer of medical cannabis, announced a bought deal Wednesday of a little more than five million shares of the company, valued at approximately $175 million.

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Canopy noted in a release that GMP Securities LP and Bank of Montreal-owned BMO Capital Markets were leading the stock sale as joint bookrunners, marking the first time a major Canadian bank has helped head an equity financing for a publicly traded medical marijuana company.

“This is the first time a major Canadian bank-owned brokerage has participated in a cannabis securities issue,” wrote Chris Damas, editor of the BCMI Cannabis Report.

A spokesperson for Canopy confirmed that the transaction marked the first such foray by a Big Five Canadian bank.