Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier
Not every cannabis investor is sitting on the sidelines right now. Earlier this week, Big Plan Holdings, a Nashville-based family office, announced a strategic partnership with Silver Therapeutics, a New England-based cultivation and dispensary business.
The deal will see BPH take a shared ownership stake across all of Silver Therapeutics, with an estimated value of $35 million.
Silver Therapeutics currently operates three dispensaries and a grow operation in Maine and one dispensary in Vermont. In addition, it plans to have three dispensaries in Massachusetts by the end of the third quarter.
As part of the deal, BPH CEO Josh Joseph and Chief Strategy Officer Michael Mook will join the Silver Therapeutics board. However, Joseph stressed, there will be no changes from a management standpoint.
This investment is just the beginning of BPH’s plans for the East Coast. The new joint entity is already eying locations in New Jersey and New York, while closely watching what’s happening in Maryland and Virginia, according to BPH founder and CEO Josh Joseph.
“There are a lot of opportunities in a lot of markets,” Joseph told Green Market Report. “There’s also a lot of distress. But the strong will survive in the industry as a whole.”
Big Plan Holdings’ cannabis investment plans aren’t solely tied to Silver Therapeutics’ capabilities either. The office will partner with the operator where it makes sense, Joseph said, “but we’re not exclusive with them.”
While the companies are focusing primarily on New England right now, BPH said in a statement that it maintains a “view to expand their reach across the United States, where market conditions are conducive.”
Capitalizing on the opportunities required a bit of a shift in focus for Joseph. “I’ve been (investing in cannabis) since 2014, and historically, we focused on limited license states,” he said. But there are “good, solid locations” across the board.
Joseph emphasized that BPH absolutely wants to grow its cannabis exposure. “We operate at the intersection of music, fashion, sports and so on, which I see as where the cannabis industry really exists too,” he said.
The key is connecting with the right partners in the right places at the right time. Like Silver Therapeutics.
