Acquired Sales adds Lifted Liquids to CBD portfolio

Lake Forest-based private equity firm Acquired Sales Corp. announced Wednesday it will acquire CBD products maker Warrender Enterprise Inc. in Zion in deal worth approximately $7.5 million.

Warrender Enterprise Inc. which operates under the name Lifted Liquids, produces its own lines of CBD-infused products, as well as numerous CBD-infused products for private label clients. Under the deal, Founder and CEO Nicholas S. Warrender will continue in his role and Lifted Liquids will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of AQSP. Warrender will also become Vice chairman and chief operating officer of AQSP.

Acquired Sales' deal includes $7.5 million in cash/loan split, as well as 4.5 million shares of Acquired Sales stock with an option to purchase more. "Our partnership with AQSP brings value beyond measure, giving us the ability to continue our expansion at an even more rapid rate," Warrender said. "We want to continue to leave a positive mark and impact on the lives of our current and future customers."

The acquisition is the latest in a series of investments Acquired Sales has made in the CBD industry. CBD, a chemical found in cannabis and hemp plants that is believed to treat certain conditions without providing the mind-altering "high" connected with THC, has been the base for product boom since it was legalized in 2016. CBD-based product sales are estimated between $600 million and $2 billion nationally, and it could become a $16 billion industry by 2025, according to experts.

Acquired Sales bought Mundelein-based CBD Lion last May for $2 million, and previously acquired Oregon-based Ablis Holding Company, the parent company of CBD-infused craft distillers Bendistillery Inc. and Bend Spirits, for approximately $1.9 million.

In an interview last summer, Acquired Sales CEO Gerard Jacobs said the equity firm's entry into the growing CBD market focuses on finding ventures that have a similar vision of integrity and quality in its products, and providing the platform for the business to share ideas and grow together.

"We want to build the biggest CBD company in the United States," Jacobs said. "We are trying to build a partnership of entrepreneurs that can help each other."