CERAF - Ceres Acquisition Corp. pops on SPAC deal to buy Wrigley heir's pot firm Parallel

Ceres Acquisition Corp. (CERAF) has reached a SPAC deal to take cannabis retailer Parallel public at a $1.9B valuation. The cannabis firm is headed by William “Beau” Wrigley Jr., the billionaire heir to the Wrigley’s chewing gum fortune.Parallel will net out some $430M in cash on its balance sheet following the deal’s closure. That will consist of $120M from Ceres special purpose acquisition company trust (less any redemptions), plus a $225M private investment in public equity (PIPE).Parallel operates some 50 retail cannabis dispensaries.Beau Wrigley, who’s the former CEO of the Wrigley gum company, will remain as chairman and CEO of the combined company. He grew the chewing-gum giant to more than $5B in revenues before orchestrating its 2008 sale to Mars for $23B.Both sides expect the transaction to close this summer.Ceres stock rose as much as 32.6% on the news to a record $15 a share, but pulled back some

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Ceres Acquisition Corp. pops on SPAC deal to buy Wrigley heir’s pot firm Parallel