Chicago Atlantic closes on $50M loan for marijuana investments

Specialty marijuana finance company Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance closed on a $50 million loan to fund future investments and other corporate purposes.

Chicago Atlantic, an Illinois-based commercial mortgage real estate investment trust, withdrew the entire loan at closing to repay its outstanding borrowings on its $110 million senior secured revolving credit facility and for other working capital purposes.

“This unsecured note is the latest example of our ability to source accretive financing that further enhances our operational liquidity to pursue additional opportunities within our active originations pipeline,” said Peter Sack, Chicago Atlantic’s co-CEO.

The unsecured term loan will mature in October 2028, is interest only and has a fixed cash interest rate of 9%.

The company can prepay the entire loan or a part of it any time with applicable prepayment penalties.

Egan-Jones Ratings Co. rated Chicago Atlantic and the senior unsecured term loan BBB+.

Chicago Atlantic trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange as REFI.

Highlights of Chicago Atlantic’s second-quarter financial results include:

• Net interest income of roughly $13.2 million.
• Total expenses of $4.3 million before expected credit losses.
• Net income of about $9.2 million.
• Distributable earnings of $9.8 million, or 50 cents per weighted average diluted common share.