Canada Is Holding a Lottery to Decide Who Gets the Stock Ticker POT

(Bloomberg) -- The stock symbol POT is up for grabs on Canadian exchanges and demand is so high that they’re holding a lottery for the first time ever to determine who gets it.

POT, previously the ticker for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan before it merged with Agrium Inc. to form Nutrien Ltd., becomes available for use on Friday. Not surprisingly, the cannabis-themed symbol has attracted “significant interest,” according to a staff notice published by the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Applications from companies are due by 5 p.m. Tuesday in Toronto, and a random lottery will be held Wednesday to determine the winner. TMX Group spokeswoman Catherine Kee declined to comment on how many applications it’s gotten, or how many of the interested companies are related to the fast-growing cannabis sector. The winner may remain a mystery until it begins trading under the new ticker, as the exchanges keep symbol reservations confidential, Kee said.

POT isn’t the only marijuana-themed ticker symbol out there. Canopy Growth Corp., the world’s biggest cannabis company by market value, trades under the symbol WEED in Canada and the ETFMG Alternative Harvest exchange-traded fund uses the symbol MJ, short for Mary Jane. Other creative symbols used by cannabis firms include TGIF, which belongs to 1933 Industries Inc., and FSD Pharma Inc.’s HUGE.

The POT lottery is open to companies listed on any Canadian exchange, including the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange, Canadian Securities Exchange and Aequitas NEO Exchange. Exchange-traded funds and issuers without an active operating business aren’t eligible to participate, meaning the popular Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF won’t be able to apply.

--With assistance from Brad Olesen.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristine Owram in Toronto at kowram@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Courtney Dentch at cdentch1@bloomberg.net, Scott Schnipper

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