Turning Point Brands buys stake in Texas hemp cigarette maker

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Turning Point Brands, a Kentucky tobacco products manufacturer, marketer and distributor, has acquired a 20% stake in Wild Hempettes, a leading manufacturer of hemp cigarettes under the WildHemp and Hempettes brands. The deal includes options to increase its stake to a 100% ownership position.

Turning Point Brands (TPB) is the manufacturer of the iconic brands Zig-Zag and Stoker’s, and has emerging brands within the NewGen segment.

As part of the transaction, the Wild Hempettes joint venture was spun off from Crown Distributing and formed as a vehicle for TPB to be the exclusive distributor of Hempettes to U.S. bricks and mortar retailers under a profit-sharing arrangement.

Wild Hemp was an early entrant into the hemp-CBD smoking market with its Hempettes branded cigarette.

“We are excited to have the ideal partner in Turning Point Brands to significantly scale our business,” said Zain Meghani, CEO of Wild Hempettes. “The combination of our Hempettes product along with TPB’s distribution presence in over 210,000 outlets in North America provides tremendous growth potential.”