MedMen Enterprises, a Culver City-based cannabis investment and management firm, is on the verge of a public offering on the Canadian Stock Exchange, with a value north of $1.6 billion, according to a source familiar with the transaction.

The company announced plans for a reverse merger last month with Ladera Ventures, but did not specify a valuation or when the public offering would occur. A source with knowledge of the transaction said that a presale offering of MedMen shares raised approximately $100 million.

MedMen operates upscale cannabis retail boutiques from Santa Monica Boulevard to Fifth Avenue in New York and sells both recreational and medicinal marijuana products legal under state laws. Operations include a 45,000-square-foot greenhouse in Nevada. The company operates 18 facilities in total in California, Nevada and New York.

The company opted to go public in Canada because major U.S. stock exchanges will not list cannabis companies as marijuana is still illegal under U.S. federal law.

MedMen would be the second U.S.-headquartered company to list on the Canadian Stock Exchange.

See related story “Culver City-Based Medmen Enterprises Goes Public on Canadian Exchange.”

Health business reporter Dana Bartholomew can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @_DanaBart.