Staff
It’s time for your Daily Hit of cannabis financial news for September 1, 2021.
On the Site
Gage
TerrAscend Corp. (CSE: TER) (OTCQX: TRSSF) is buying Michigan-based Gage Growth Corp. (CSE: GAGE) in a deal valued at $545 million. Gage’s portfolio includes the city and state approvals for 19 “Class C” cultivation licenses, three processing licenses, and 15 provisioning centers (dispensaries). Once the deal is closed, the combined business will have operations in 5 states and Canada, including 7 cultivation and processing facilities and 23 operating dispensaries serving both medical and adult-use cannabis markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Ayr Wellness
Ayr Wellness Inc. (OTCQX: AYRWF) is buying Pennsylvania-based PA Natural Medicine, LLC, which operates three licensed retail dispensaries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The deal is valued at $80 million but could see an extra $40 million if milestones are met. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter and Ayr said that it expects to rebrand the stores once the transaction is complete.
Planet 13
Planet 13 Holdings Inc. (CSE: PLTH)(OTCQX: PLNHF) is buying a subsidiary of Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. (OTC: HRVSF) in an all-cash deal valued at $55 million. The company will be named Planet 13 Florida Inc. and will purchase a license to operate as a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center issued by the Florida Department of Health to the seller. The acquisition is dependent on the successful close of the Trulieve Cannabis Corp./Harvest arrangement transaction and the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use approval for Planet 13 Florida.
GTI
Green Thumb Industries Inc. (GTI) (CSE: GTII) (OTCQX: GTBIF) has bought Massachusetts-based GreenStar Herbals, Inc. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. The single state operator owns and operates two adult-use retail locations in Massachusetts. The acquisition also includes a third retail location, set to open in 2021 near Logan International Airport and the Encore Casino.
NY
It got confirmed that Governor Kathy Hochul will name Chris Alexander to be the Executive Director of the Office of Cannabis Management. Alexander is the government relations and policy director at the cannabis company Vill LLC, a Multi-State Cannabis Company based in Canada. He was also an Associate Counsel in the New York State Senate and Policy Coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance.
In Other News
iAnthus
iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. (CSE: IAN) (OTCPK: ITHUF), which owns, operates and partners with regulated cannabis operations across the United States, announced that it has won a dismissal of the complaints filed in the previously disclosed consolidated actions in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Consolidated U.S. Actions include (a) various shareholder class action claims filed in the Southern District of New York against, among others, iAnthus and certain of its current and former officers and directors alleging violations of the U.S. securities laws; and (b) a complaint filed by Hi-Med LLC in the Southern District of New York against iAnthus and certain of its current and former officers and directors alleging violations of the U.S. securities laws and other state-law claims.
DEA
A notice from the DEA to be published this Thursday proposes to adjust the 2021 aggregate production quotas for several controlled substances in schedules I and II of the Controlled Substances Act. DEA is proposing significant increases to the APQs of the schedule I substances psilocybin, psilocin, marihuana, and marihuana extract, which are directly related to increased interest by DEA registrants in the use of hallucinogenic controlled substances for research and clinical trial purposes. DEA firmly believes in supporting regulated research of schedule I controlled substances. The DEA now wants to produce 2 million grams of marijuana, or about 4,400 pounds, in 2021. That’s a 500,000-gram increase for its initial quota for the plant for this year. The quota was set at 50 grams for psilocybin, which has been revised to 1,500 grams—a 2,900%. DEA also wants to manufacture 1,000 grams of psilocin, instead of just 50 grams as initially proposed.
