MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press
Massachusetts hemp producers and processors may finally be getting some relief, as the state's Cannabis Control Commission (the Commission) recently released guidance on selling hemp products to licensed cannabis retailers in the state.
Hemp growers and processors have been anticipating the guidance since the December passage of the MA Hemp Industry Survive and Thrive amendment included in the state's 2021 fiscal budget.
The new guidance permits the sale of industrial hemp products to licensed cannabis retailers, opening up a new market for the state’s struggling industry.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), products such as hempseed, hempseed oil, building materials, clothes, and other products and materials derived from hemp fiber are eligible for wholesale to cannabis retailers under the new guidance. However, the sale of cannabidiol (CBD) products—aside from topicals and non-food CBD products that do not make any therapeutic claims and are not marketed as a dietary supplement—remains illegal (unless approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the guidance says).
The sale of unprocessed or raw hemp, including flower, for consumer use also remains illegal (though the sale of these products from licensed grower to grower or grower to processor is allowed).
Hemp products sold at licensed cannabis retailers must be sold to consumers 21 or older, according to the guidance.
NEWYORK, May 24, 2021 –PRESS RELEASE – MATTIOCommunications, one of the longest-running and largest cannabis marketingservices firms, announced that it has launched a full-service influencermarketing agency, Confluence Agency.In addition to supporting cannabis clients, this subsidiary will also focus onsectors including fashion, beauty, food, home, tech, lifestyle and travel asinfluencer marketing becomes an integral aspect of building brand value acrossall industries.
Over the past 10 years,influencer marketing has become a preferred strategy for brands to engage withtarget audiences. Increased social media usage throughout 2020 further enabledcompanies to drive sales and brand awareness through curated content generatedby micro and macro influencers. According to Insider Intelligence, the value of the influencer marketing industry isprojected to reach $15billion by 2022 as more brands invest in building authenticlong-term consumer relationships.
“Since our inception, MATTIOhas developed strategic solutions that exceed our clients’ business goals,”said RosieMattio, founder and CEO of MATTIO. “We’ve seen firsthand howinfluencer marketing drives growth among our own cannabis clients and is thefuture of brand marketing. Launching an agency dedicated to executingbest-in-class influencer campaigns aligns with our core mission of providingnovel and effective media services to high-growth industries.”
Victoria Baek, who was head of influencer marketing at MATTIO, will lead ConfluenceAgency as CEO. Baek has worked with legacy consumer brands including Coca-Cola,Taco Bell, Disney and Forever 21. Prior to working at MATTIO, Baek was head ofinfluencer marketing and brand partnerships at HARMAN International where shespearheaded the JBL Master Class series, a monthly program featuring electronicproducers and hip-hop artists that not only brought the HARMAN portfolio tomillions of new deals but also generated new brand deals.
“The influencer industry hasevolved from one-off transactions to valuable, long-term partnerships. Onlinecommunities allow brands to connect authentically with audiences in a way thatdrives measured performance,” Baek said. “We’reso excited to launch this new agency to help brands understand emergingchannels and leverage these relationships to strengthen overall brand loyalty andimprove conversion.”
Confluence Agency managesinfluencer marketing strategies for brands from start to end. From identifyingcelebrity and/or niche influencers, to creating content guidelines, to handlingthe logistics of gifting programs, the Confluence team takes a goal-orientedapproach to every campaign in order to track progress. For more information onConfluence’s full range of services, please visit https://www.confluenceagency.co.
]]>OLD BETHPAGE, New York, May 24, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Millennium Investment & Acquisition Co. Inc. (MILC) announced that it has agreed to invest in a newly formed cannabis operator Walsenburg Cannabis LLC (WC). As part of the transaction, MILC has agreed to lend capital to WC for its business operations and MILC is in the process of obtaining regulatory approvals for holding cannabis licenses in Colorado. Upon receiving regulatory approval, it is contemplated that the company would become the majority owner of WC in the form of a preferred equity ownership stake.
Simultaneous with MILC’s investment, WC entered into a long-term lease for real estate purchased by Power REIT. David H. Lesser, MILC’s chairman and CEO is also chairman and CEO of Power REIT. The approximately 22.2-acre site includes existing greenhouse and processing space (the “property”). As part of the lease, Power REIT has agreed to fund the rehabilitation and upgrading of the existing improvements and the construction of additional greenhouse space. Upon completion of this work, the property will have a total of approximately 102,800 square feet of greenhouse and related space. Millennium Investment’s total capital commitment for the project is $750,000.
“This transaction represents a new area of focus for MILC as MILC seeks to transition from an investment company under Securities and Exchange Act of 1940,” Lesser said. “As previously disclosed, MILC is actively selling its sole investment in securities and is converting to an operating business with two areas of focus: sustainable cannabis cultivation in greenhouses and production of activated carbon. MILC is enthusiastic about the prospects for these two focus areas, and I look forward to announcing additional exciting developments in the near future.”
WC is led by President Jared Schrader, an experienced cannabis cultivation operator with a solid track record. Schrader grew revenue at a Colorado cannabis cultivation facility from annual revenue of $150,000 to weekly revenue of over $150,000 (i.e., more than $8 million annually) over the span of two years.
“The property is subdivided into five parcels that each have local approval for the cultivation of cannabis. This allows the property to pursue a rapid growth plan given the nature of Colorado cannabis licensing which is based on a limited plant count initially per property,” Schrader said. “Once performance is demonstrated to the regulators, each property will have the potential to ‘tier-up’ and add more plants. Based on the initial property configuration, WC intends to quickly establish approximately 11,000 cannabis plants which can be harvested approximately five times per year. Based on recent prices for cannabis in Colorado, this would result an annual run rate of revenue in excess of $10 million. Colorado was the first state to legalize cannabis and is currently the second largest cannabis market in the United States which continues to generate significant demand growth.”
Schrader added, “I believe this property can quickly become a large-scale producer of cannabis and cannabis-related products to serve the Colorado market which is the second largest cannabis market in the United States. I am excited to team up with both MILC and Power REIT to get this project growing.”
When Amber Speckman started cultivating cannabis nearly a decade ago in Northern California, it was consistent with her passion to help people.
Speckman’s background includes a master’s degree in marketing and business, but spending two years helping to nurse her mother, who died of cancer, motivated her to go back to school and earn degrees in holistic health and nutrition. Speckman then moved out of the country and opened a holistic health and wellness center, which she ran for seven years.
But when her father’s health began to decline, she moved back home to take care of him and had a son at the time. To meet the financial needs of her family, Speckman put 25 cannabis plants in the ground, which she said was the legal number she could cultivate in 2013 with her medical license.
“It was consistent with my passion to help people,” she said. “I’ve always loved natural medicine. And it was a way that I could work from home, take care of my family and then also provide natural health and medicine to people who needed it. So, that’s how I started cultivation about a decade ago.”
The owner of Sol 7 Farms, Speckman’s family operation now has seven team members who cultivate 14,000 square feet of cannabis and produce high-end flower from the Emerald Triangle.
Maryland medical cannabis cultivator CULTA has launched the state program’s first tissue culture lab in an effort to further hone its approach to craft cannabis and extracts. Chief Cannabis Officer and co-founder Mackie Barch said that it’s a natural next step in the company’s growth plans and cultivation goals.
The team took their first tissue culture clones on April 8. (The news comes just a few months after CULTA moved its headquarters to a new office in Bethesda to accommodate a long-term growth strategy, which includes plans to add 100 more employees across its farm in Cambridge, retail dispensary in Baltimore and new HQ.)
CULTA’s current collection of 26 cultured strains includes: Dosido 22-22, Poochie Love and Scooby Snacks #2. New mothers are expected in the coming months. The plan is to bank all of CULTA’s genetics in the lab by the end of the year.
The prime motivation was “to ensure redundancy of our genetics, the ability to create clean new moms and to be able to store genetics for long periods of time,” Barch said. “The long-term implications are to ensure we don’t lose prized genetics to disease and age. Additionally, we can store more genetics in a safer manner and bring them back as needed.”
Cannabis strains can be moved in and out of production without a lot of additional cost. This flexibility translates to a greater engagement with sales trends in Maryland.
This week, we were very pleased to announce a new partnership with the Minority Cannabis Business Alliance: the diversity scholarship, which will provide selected MCBA members with 20 complimentary Cannabis Conference 2021 All-Access passes, and 10 complimentary Hemp Grower Conference 2021 All-Access passes.
It was heartening to see this news come together, and we’re just excited to be able to extend this offer to a broad audience through the MCBA.
I mention it here because, too often, the industry is pushed backward by outside forces. In Mississippi, the state’s Supreme Court knocked down a voter-approved medical cannabis initiative. Progress: thwarted.
This industry is still very much emerging from an illicit market/gray market background. Pieces of the puzzle are being set in place, and now is the time to be as inclusive as possible—to keep the door open and examine new ways of working together. You can read Associate Editor Tony Lange’s report on Mississippi in the list below, and here’s what he wrote in our Friday newsletter (subscribe here!).
“If Mississippians want to instill their own system of checks and balances, they have the power to vote out Supreme Court justices at the polls when their eight-year terms expire. Then, their voices surely will be heard.”
We’ve rounded up some of the key cannabis headlines from the week right here.
Adult-use cannabis is making its way to Montana after Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a cannabis legalization implementation bill into law on May 18.
The legislation, House Bill 701, will implement and regulate an adult-use cannabis program in the state; however, the legislation makes several changes to the initial measure, Initiative 90 (I-90), which voters approved by a considerable amount in the 2020 election, as previously reported by Cannabis Business Times.
Under H.B. 701, recreational sales are set to begin Jan. 1 2022, for adults 21 years and older, but only existing cannabis providers can opt into the market for the first 18 months, as Cannabis Business Times previously reported.
Some of the modifications H.B. 701 makes to I-90 include pushing back the deadline for recreational sales to begin from Oct 1. 2021 to Jan. 1 2022, imposing new restrictions on the quantity of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content permitted in retail products, and reducing the number of cannabis plants adults can cultivate for personal use from four to two plants; however, householders with more than one adult can grow double that amount without penalty, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) reported.
Under H.B. 701, the THC content in cannabis flower is limited to 35%, edibles are restricted to 100mg per package, and all other concentrated products are capped at 800mg, NORML reported.
Cannabis retailers are not permitted to operate in Montana counties or cities where most voters voted against I-90 unless the county or city holds an additional election is held to opt into the market. And counties or cities that can participate in recreational sales have the option to either "opt-in" or "opt-out" of allowing cannabis businesses through a vote, the reform organization reported.
On Raw Garden’s website, as of May 2021, the Santa Barbara-based cannabis cultivation business lists “839 strains and counting,” each one an example of the breeding program at the heart of the garden. From Abracadabra to Zookies, the sheer variety taps into one of the great forces in the cannabis consumer marketplace: a search for something new.
We spoke with Raw Garden’s product director, Khalid Al-Naser, to learn more about the strategy.
Eric Sandy: Could you describe how Raw Garden came to be?
Khalid Al-Naser: I've been with Raw Garden through every iteration, which started in the [Prop.] 215 space. A lot of the early culture and ethos was built around the idea of developing good medicine: quality, consistently, at an accessible price. As we moved through a lot of the transition [to the adult-use market] and licensing, we really tried to keep that at the heart of what we were doing.
So, we pushed really hard around the concentrates. As the 30% tax came in, we lowered our price to make sure that consumers didn't have a price change at the retail level. Subsequently, we ended up launching our vape carts, which just put us in a really great position in the market. We were priced well and had a high-quality product, which just made a really great value proposition. That really pushed us along to where we are today, which is a growing brand that's really trying to provide a lot of great consumer experiences—while still holding onto this idea that we can create accessible products that are high-quality, and it doesn't have to be stagnant or boring.
ES: Breeding is a big part of that mission, right? Making sure that the product line is not stagnant?
Ascend Wellness Holdings (AWH) opened a medical-use dispensary in Rochelle Park, New Jersey.
The dispensary is AWH's second in the state, and the first cannabis dispensary in Rochelle Park, according to the company. AWH's other in-state dispensary is located in Montclair, New Jersey.
AWH's dispensary in Rochelle Park will offer patients flower, pre-rolls, ingestibles, topicals and vapes. The dispensary will employ 65 staff and will immediately begin accepting new patients, the company says.
According to AWH, the dispensary is located along one of the most highly-trafficked areas in the U.S. and will serve the state's more than 100,000 medical marijuana patients.
"We are thrilled to open Ascend Rochelle Park and remain committed to meeting patients' needs through an elevated patient journey," says Chris Melillo, chief revenue officer at AWH. "Built to complete the customer purchase process quickly and at scale, our new location will help meet the rising demand for affordable, safe medical cannabis products in New Jersey. We are grateful for the support of Deputy Mayor Gail Artola and Rochelle Park residents in the opening of our dispensary."
]]>MAY 20, 2021 – LAS VEGAS, NV / ORLANDO, FL – Cannabis Conference (produced by Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower media brands) and Hemp Grower Conference (produced by Hemp Grower) announce today a joint partnership with Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) to help minority cannabis entrepreneurs access networking and education opportunities to grow and support their business. The inaugural Cannabis Conference/Hemp Grower Conference Diversity Scholarship will provide selected MCBA members with 20 complimentary Cannabis Conference 2021 All-Access passes, and 10 complimentary Hemp Grower Conference 2021 All-Access passes.
In addition to the Scholarship, the Cannabis Conference and Hemp Grower Conference are each offering a 20% registration discount to all MCBA members.
The Diversity Scholarship is part of Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower media brands’ ‘Game Changer’ Partnership with MCBA. In addition to the scholarship, the media brands will provide more than $50,000 in annual print and digital MCBA-related promotions to support this pioneering organization dedicated to serving the specific needs of minority cannabis entrepreneurs and their communities.
“Minorities, who have been historically disproportionally affected by the war on drugs, also face barriers to entry within the legal cannabis market because of a lack of access to capital and quality networking opportunities,” Cannabis Conference/Hemp Grower Conference Editorial Director Noelle Skodzinski said. “Through our valued partnership with the Minority Cannabis Business Association, the Diversity Scholarship Fund offers no-cost access to our conferences for scholarship recipients to help provide those in-depth educational and network-building opportunities.”
“The partnership also will help promote the MCBA and the essential work it does on behalf of its members to promote equality and diversity in the cannabis industry—by working toward fair policies and regulations, and the empowerment of minorities and women through educational and networking opportunities and other resources,” Cannabis Conference/Hemp Grower Conference Publisher Jim Gilbride said.
“We are grateful to have the Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary, and Hemp Grower brands as partners in building an equitable cannabis industry. The partnership will provide access to a caliber of networking and educational events that are essential, but often inaccessible, to small minority cannabis businesses. Their support of MCBA will help us grow to better reach and serve our community,” MCBA Executive Director Amber Littlejohn said.
Ayr Wellness launched its Revel flower brand in Pennsylvania, marking the first product the company has produced and sold in the Keystone State.
According to Ayr, sales of Revel flower are already underway in Pennsylvania and are available exclusively at the company's medicinal dispensaries in New Castle and Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Wholesale of Revel to other dispensary operators will begin in June.
Revel's initial launch in Pennsylvania will feature five strains of flower: First Class Funk, Mango Skunk, MR OG, Tangarang, and Zombie Kush. Ayr will also introduce Revel concentrates, tinctures, vape cartridges and more to the Pennsylvania market in June, the company says.
"We are excited to bring Ayr's high-quality products to Pennsylvania with the launch of Revel," says Jonathan Sandelman, CEO of Ayr. "We believe everything starts with the plant, and as such have invested in building out the best cultivation facilities in the commonwealth. We will be launching many new and differentiated Ayr products in the Pennsylvania market over the coming months and look forward to introducing Ayr's high standards and quality brands to the discerning Pennsylvania customer."
Washington, D.C., is best known as a Congressional battleground, the stage for legislative developments that impact the country.
But beyond the new iron fences around the Capitol, the District itself is a vibrant city full of culture and ethnic history. And thanks to centuries-old laws that give Congress broad oversight over the capital, it’s home to the most unique cannabis industry structure in the nation: Despite it being legal to possess and even grow at home, it’s been against the law to sell cannabis in D.C. since legalization took effect six years ago.
Yet industry activists and stakeholders believe change is imminent, now that the White House has a new occupant and the Senate is controlled by Democrats. The D.C. government appears to agree: According to officials, preparation is already underway for local licensing and regulation of adult-use cannabis sales.
Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary spoke to experts in the D.C. cannabis scene about how the new industry should be regulated and the most probable path to establishing adult-use sales in the District.
What’s the current status of cannabis in D.C.?
D.C. legalized cannabis with its Initiative 71, which passed in 2014 and went into effect in February 2015. The new law allowed adult residents to possess up to two ounces of cannabis, grow up to six plants at home and consume on private property. Residents are also allowed to “gift” someone up to an ounce, but sales of any amount are prohibited thanks to the infamous “Harris Rider,” a provision blocking D.C. cannabis sales which for years was added onto the federal budget by Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD).
The Colorado Senate approved legislation that would expand expungement and double the threshold for illegal cannabis possession April 28.
House Bill 1090, sponsored by Rep. Alex Valdez and Sen. Julie Gonzales—both democrats—cleared the House in a 45-19 vote on March 17 and most recently passed the Senate in a 23-11 vote.
Under current law, adults 21 years and older who possess up to 2 ounces of cannabis can be charged with a drug petty offense punishable by a fine of up to $100. H.B. 1090 would remove this offense.
According to the bill summary, the legislation would also change the definition of illegal possession of cannabis by an underage person, increasing the limit from 1 ounce or less to 2 ounces of cannabis or less.
In addition, the bill would permit a person to petition to have his or her conviction record sealed if he or she were convicted of a Class 3 felony cannabis cultivation offense.
The measure would require the court to seal a conviction record, without objection from the district attorney, for a cannabis possession offense that is otherwise not sealed, if the person has not been previously convicted of a criminal offense since release from supervision or since the final disposition of all criminal proceedings, the bill summary states.
The Parent Company will place a $50-million investment in southern California’s Glass House Group, which will open discussions to longer-term strategic market agreements. With Glass House Group’s 500,000-plus square feet of greenhouse space and its rapidly expanding retail footprint, future agreements could include greater visibility in the California adult-use cannabis market for The Parent Company’s suite of branded products (including Jay-Z’s MONOGRAM line).
The investment comes at the same time that Glass House Group is executing a business combination with Mercer Park Brand Acquisition Corp., a SPAC that will take Glass House Group public. That transaction is expected to close this summer, upon which The Parent Company’s investment will translate into 6.2% of subordinate voting shares in the combined business.
All told, several major players in the California cannabis landscape are converging. The Parent Company launched in late 2020 as the result of its own SPAC transaction.
“Our focus over the last 100 days has been to continue to scale up our supply chain,” The Parent Company CEO Steve Allan said in a public statement this month. “Our strategic investment accomplishes two important components, gaining access to Glass House’s greenhouse-grown cannabis at attractive pricing and expanding the distribution of our products to their network of retail stores. Our strategy for vertical integration in California required locking in long-term, low-cost cultivation to meet our demand for branded products in our wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels.”
The Parent Company also announced the acquisition of four acres of outdoor cannabis cultivation land affiliated with Soma Rosa Farms.
]]>The average dispensary in Las Vegas pulls in about $2 million in revenue per month, while larger stores have reported up to $10 million in single-month sales. Even in 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, legal cannabis statewide in Nevada clocked $789 million in sales. And prospective business owners want in: State-issued licenses have traded hands for as much as $20 million each.
Owning a cannabis company in the Silver State can be an incredibly lucrative endeavor. But for all of the Green Rush’s successes—80 operating dispensaries, 158 grow houses and 110 production facilities—still only one company has a Black woman running the show from the top.
On the remote east side of Sin City, just before houses and roads give way to miles of desert sand, a mom-and-pop-style cannabis store serves thousands of mostly local residents. Top Notch The Health Center, styled as Top Notch THC next to a bright green medical cross on its cream-colored building, welcomes a broad customer base.
Kema Ogden is one of three Top Notch owners and still the only Black woman able to make such a claim in Nevada. Unlike most of her counterparts in the industry, who have sold off their marijuana empires for up to $300 million, Ogden has held onto her dispensary. She’s also still regularly involved in the day-to-day operations.
“We’ve always been focused on being a grassroots company and being a part of the local community,” she said. “The community supports us back, and those relationships that we’ve built over the years really help keep us grounded.”
A former fitness trainer and philanthropist, Ogden would have called you crazy a decade ago if you told her that part of her future would be dealing legal weed. The wife of NFL Hall-of-Famer Jonathan Ogden and mother of two has always had a heart for wellness and helping others. But her humanitarian endeavors had always taken more traditional structures, like a family foundation that runs sports and fitness programs as well as a nonprofit hospital that serves uninsured and low-income families.
The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled Friday that the voice of its people, who voted in favor of legalizing medical cannabis by more than a two-thirds majority during in the November 2020 election, is not enough to influence policy.
The ballot measure, Initiative 65, would have required the Mississippi State Department of Health to adopt rules and regulations for a medical cannabis program by July 1, 2021, and begin issuing medical patient cards and treatment center licenses by Aug. 15, 2021. The ballot results were certified by Secretary of State Michael Watson.
But the state’s high court overruled those election results by a 6-3 decision. Justice Josiah D. Coleman wrote the majority opinion.
The Supreme Court’s ruling stems from Section 273(3) of the Mississippi Constitution, which states that signatures from each congressional district for a ballot initiative cannot exceed one-fifth of the total number of signatures required to qualified an initiative petition for placement upon the ballot. In short, the section was designed to ensure an even number of signatures was gathered from each congressional district for geographic uniformity.
However, after the 2000 Census, Mississippi dropped from five districts to four districts—making Section 273(3)’s one-fifth requirement mathematically at odds with the political structure of the state’s electorate. Language dealing with the initiative process was never updated to “one-fourth” in that section.
“Whether with intent, by oversight, or for some other reason, the drafters of section 273(3) wrote a ballot-initiative process that cannot work in a world where Mississippi has fewer than five representatives in Congress,” Coleman said in his majority opinion. “To work in today’s reality, it will need amending—something that lies beyond the power of the Supreme Court. We grant the petition, reverse the secretary of state’s certification of Initiative 65, and hold that any subsequent proceedings on it are void.”
At first, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey did not commit to signing a medical cannabis bill when the state legislature passed the legislation by a roughly two-to-one ratio in both chambers May 6.
In a statement from Ivey’s office that night, Press Secretary Gina Maiola said the governor looked forward to thoroughly reviewing Senate Bill 46 and providing the diligence it deserves but did not say whether she would sign it.
The Republican executive provided her ink to the bill Monday, making Alabama unofficially the 36th medical cannabis state, joining the likes of nearby Arkansas, Florida and Louisiana, according to reform organization Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). Mississippi dropped from the ranks of medical cannabis states after its Supreme Court ruled May 14 that Initiative 65 was unconstitutional.
When the Alabama Legislature passed its medical cannabis bill earlier this month, MPP Director of State Policies Karen O’Keefe said the legislation will allow seriously ill patients to finally get the relief they deserve and urged Ivey to sign it into law.
Ivey did just that Monday afternoon.
“I would like to thank Sen. Tim Melson and Rep. Mike Ball for their hard work over the last few years and their commitment to continue to work on this to ensure we have a productive, safe and responsible operation in Alabama,” Ivey said in a statement.
WAKEFIELD, Mass., May 17, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Curaleaf Holdings Inc., a leading international provider of consumer products in cannabis, signed definitive documents to acquire the Los Sueños Farms and its related entities, the largest outdoor grow in Colorado. This will significantly expand Curaleaf's Colorado presence, vertically integrating in the state with large-scale outdoor cannabis cultivation. The proposed transaction includes three Pueblo, Colorado outdoor cannabis grow facilities covering 66 acres of cultivation capacity, including land, equipment and licensed operating entities, an 1,800-plant indoor grow and two retail cannabis dispensary locations serving adult-use customers.
Total base consideration for the proposed acquisition is approximately $49 million for the Los Sueños operating companies and $18 million for the real estate and farm assets. Total consideration of $67 million to be paid 61% in Curaleaf subordinate voting shares, 29% in cash at closing, and 10% in assumed debt maturing in five years. Additional contingent consideration of up to $8 million in stock will be paid based upon operating cash flow-based targets for 2022.
Curaleaf Executive Chairman Boris Jordan said, "The acquisition of Los Sueños provides Curaleaf with outdoor cannabis cultivation expertise at commercial scale and establishes our foothold in the $2.2 billion Colorado market. This deal furthers our strategy of constructing low-cost supply chains that will secure healthy margins and position us for interstate commerce when it comes. Ultimately, our goal is to cultivate cannabis at less than $100 per pound, and this acquisition is a significant step in the right direction."
The acquisition will complement Curaleaf's existing Colorado presence through its Select brand. Select is known as America's No. 1 cannabis oil brand, with a variety of best-in-class cannabis products distributed to nearly 2,000 locations across 18 states.
Curaleaf CEO Joseph Bayern said, "The acquisition of Los Sueños will add over 50,000 pounds per year of low-cost wholesale capacity to Curaleaf's footprint in Colorado, which we intend to double to over 100,000 pounds, representing a significant market share. As the largest producer of biomass in the state, this facility will also fuel the further deployment of our Select product line, which can already be found in 230 independent dispensaries in the state."
The proposed transaction has been unanimously approved by the Curaleaf board of directors and is expected to close upon regulatory approvals.
]]>Germination is the beginning of a plant's life and the process of getting seeds to sprout. Within the seed is an entire young plant waiting to be "awakened" from its slumber once it receives enough moisture. From that point forward, the flora will depend on the outside environment for further nouris...
This week started with a bang, as Trulieve announced its $2.1-billion acquisition of Harvest Health and Recreation. It’s one more sign of booming M&A activity in the cannabis space—coming after a lackluster 2020, which was no real surprise in itself—and a testament to multi-state operators’ will to consolidate across state markets.
The Trulieve deal lands the Florida-based brand in 11 states with 22 cultivation and processing facilities, and 126 dispensaries.
We’ve rounded up some of the key cannabis headlines from the week right here.
Associate Editor Tony Lange reports: “Reps. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, and Don Young, R-Alaska, introduced a bill May 12—the “Common Sense Cannabis Reform for Veterans, Small Businesses and Medical Professionals Act”— that would remove cannabis from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act.” Read more Assistant Editor Andriana Ruscitto reports: “A legislative committee unanimously postponed a bill proposing restrictions on Colorado's cannabis delivery program after the bill's sponsor requested it to be delayed on May 6.” Read more Senior Editor Zach Mentz reports on Columbia Care’s brand overhaul and the launch of “Cannabist.” Read more Also from Mentz: “With the goal of increasing financial flexibility, The Green Organic Dutchman expects its Valleyfield facility sale to close by the end of June.” Read more A truly blockbuster M&A deal started off the week, with Lange reporting: “Trulieve Cannabis Corp., the largest fully licensed medical cannabis company in Florida, announced May 10 its definitive arrangement agreement for the acquisition of Arizona-based Harvest Health and Recreation Inc., in a $2.1-billion deal.” Read moreAnd elsewhere on the web, here are the stories we’ve been reading this week:
WCCO: “The Minnesota House on Thursday night approved a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana in the state, a historic vote for an effort some have been pushing for decades.” Read more Marketwatch: “Aurora reported a net loss of C$164.7 million ($135.4 million), though that figure was only included deep in its announcement as part of the reconciliation of its preferred metric, adjusted EBITDA.” Read more Forbes: “Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries, a cannabis company that operates in 12 states, reported $194.4 million in revenue for the first quarter—a 90% increase year-over-year due to increased demand.” Read more Masslive.com: “[Massachusetts] advocates, lawmakers and former regulators urged a legislative committee on Tuesday to provide more oversight of required contracts between municipalities and marijuana businesses, arguing that the system continues to be exploited by some cities and towns, which creates a barrier for small and minority owned businesses to get started in the industry.” Read more Foreign Policy: “As demand for medical marijuana products surges worldwide and states look to diversify their income streams, other African countries should follow Zimbabwe’s lead. Africa could reap enormous economic benefits from cannabis—but only if it goes further in legalization.” Read more
