A planned acquisition of Columbia Care, which owns Richmond-area medical dispensaries, has fallen through. (BizSense file)
Cannabis company Cresco Labs announced Monday that it is calling off its plans to acquire competitor Columbia Care, which controls the license to sell medical marijuana in the greater Richmond region.
The deal had been more than a year in the making and, had it panned out, would have seen the only legal medical cannabis dispensaries in the Richmond region come under the banner of Chicago-based Cresco Labs.
With its acquisition now in the rear-view mirror, Columbia Care yesterday made a separate announcement that outlined efforts designed to increase profitability and otherwise strengthen its business. Among those efforts are plans to open more dispensaries in Virginia, as well as a restructuring plan that laid off 52 people.
The company didn’t specify how those cuts were felt in the Richmond region.
Locally, Columbia Care operates medical pot dispensaries under two brands: gLeaf and Cannabist. The gLeaf stores, part of subsidiary Green Leaf Medical, are at 11190 W. Broad St. in Short Pump and 401 Southpark Blvd. in Colonial Heights. The Cannabist store is at 3100 W. Cary St. in Carytown. There’s also a gLeaf-branded cannabis growing and processing facility at 2804 Decatur St. in South Richmond, which features an in-house dispensary.
New York-based Columbia Care controls two of Virginia’s five medical cannabis operator licenses. Each license allows the holder to set up dispensaries within the boundaries of one of the state’s health service areas.
Columbia Care holds the license for Health Service Area 5 (which covers the eastern part of the state including Hampton Roads). The company also owns the dispensaries in Health Service Area 4 (which includes the Richmond and Petersburg areas) by way of its acquisition of Green Leaf that closed in June 2021.
Columbia Care plans to open a new dispensary in Suffolk on Aug. 10, company spokeswoman Lindsay Wilson said in an email Monday. She didn’t share any near-term plans for additional dispensaries in the Richmond region.
Columbia Care announced in June that Green Leaf would be “fully integrated” into its operations July 1, per a news release.
“Columbia Care has begun the process of fully integrating (Green Leaf) employees into the overall company structure and folding in its family of retail and product brands as well as its operations,” Wilson said.
There aren’t immediate plans to rebrand local gLeaf dispensaries.
Terminated acquisition deal
The termination of the deal with Cresco Labs was a mutual decision made by both sides, according to a prepared statement by Columbia Care CEO Nicholas Vita that accompanied the announcement.
“After careful consideration, we are confident in the mutual decision to move forward as separate, standalone companies,” he said.
Cresco Labs and Columbia Care have multi-state presences and both describe themselves as among the largest vertically integrated cannabis operations in the country.
The deal was first announced in March 2022, when Cresco Labs said it intended to buy Columbia Care for $2 billion.
The deal’s closing date was delayed earlier this year as the companies sought to finalize divestment agreements and get regulatory approvals lined up. As part of that effort, the companies planned to sell assets in Massachusetts, New York and Illinois to Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs. The divestiture of those assets has also been called off.
In his statement included in the companies’ announcement regarding the failed acquisition, Cresco Labs CEO Charles Bachtell said shifts in the cannabis sector motivated the decision to pull the plug.
“In light of the evolving landscape in the cannabis industry, we believe the decision to terminate the planned transaction is in the long-term interest of Cresco Labs and our shareholders,” Bachtell said.
A planned acquisition of Columbia Care, which owns Richmond-area medical dispensaries, has fallen through. (BizSense file)
Cannabis company Cresco Labs announced Monday that it is calling off its plans to acquire competitor Columbia Care, which controls the license to sell medical marijuana in the greater Richmond region.
The deal had been more than a year in the making and, had it panned out, would have seen the only legal medical cannabis dispensaries in the Richmond region come under the banner of Chicago-based Cresco Labs.
With its acquisition now in the rear-view mirror, Columbia Care yesterday made a separate announcement that outlined efforts designed to increase profitability and otherwise strengthen its business. Among those efforts are plans to open more dispensaries in Virginia, as well as a restructuring plan that laid off 52 people.
The company didn’t specify how those cuts were felt in the Richmond region.
Locally, Columbia Care operates medical pot dispensaries under two brands: gLeaf and Cannabist. The gLeaf stores, part of subsidiary Green Leaf Medical, are at 11190 W. Broad St. in Short Pump and 401 Southpark Blvd. in Colonial Heights. The Cannabist store is at 3100 W. Cary St. in Carytown. There’s also a gLeaf-branded cannabis growing and processing facility at 2804 Decatur St. in South Richmond, which features an in-house dispensary.
New York-based Columbia Care controls two of Virginia’s five medical cannabis operator licenses. Each license allows the holder to set up dispensaries within the boundaries of one of the state’s health service areas.
Columbia Care holds the license for Health Service Area 5 (which covers the eastern part of the state including Hampton Roads). The company also owns the dispensaries in Health Service Area 4 (which includes the Richmond and Petersburg areas) by way of its acquisition of Green Leaf that closed in June 2021.
Columbia Care plans to open a new dispensary in Suffolk on Aug. 10, company spokeswoman Lindsay Wilson said in an email Monday. She didn’t share any near-term plans for additional dispensaries in the Richmond region.
Columbia Care announced in June that Green Leaf would be “fully integrated” into its operations July 1, per a news release.
“Columbia Care has begun the process of fully integrating (Green Leaf) employees into the overall company structure and folding in its family of retail and product brands as well as its operations,” Wilson said.
There aren’t immediate plans to rebrand local gLeaf dispensaries.
Terminated acquisition deal
The termination of the deal with Cresco Labs was a mutual decision made by both sides, according to a prepared statement by Columbia Care CEO Nicholas Vita that accompanied the announcement.
“After careful consideration, we are confident in the mutual decision to move forward as separate, standalone companies,” he said.
Cresco Labs and Columbia Care have multi-state presences and both describe themselves as among the largest vertically integrated cannabis operations in the country.
The deal was first announced in March 2022, when Cresco Labs said it intended to buy Columbia Care for $2 billion.
The deal’s closing date was delayed earlier this year as the companies sought to finalize divestment agreements and get regulatory approvals lined up. As part of that effort, the companies planned to sell assets in Massachusetts, New York and Illinois to Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs. The divestiture of those assets has also been called off.
In his statement included in the companies’ announcement regarding the failed acquisition, Cresco Labs CEO Charles Bachtell said shifts in the cannabis sector motivated the decision to pull the plug.
“In light of the evolving landscape in the cannabis industry, we believe the decision to terminate the planned transaction is in the long-term interest of Cresco Labs and our shareholders,” Bachtell said.
Youngkin is sooooo good for VA