MJBiz - September 2023 - 12

COMPANY NEWS U.S. & International by MJBizDaily Staff
U.S. DEVELOPMENTS
Cresco Labs and Columbia
Care Terminate Merger
Cannabis multistate operators
Cresco Labs and Columbia Care
walked away from their planned
merger, a deal that was valued at
$2 billion when it was announced in
March 2022.
The deadline to close the deal
between Chicago-headquartered
Cresco and New York-based Columbia
Care had been delayed twice.
There are no costs associated with
terminating the deal, according to a
news release.
A spokesperson for Cresco told
MJBizMagazine that the companies
were struggling to divest assets, as
required, in Florida and Ohio this
spring and summer.
The terminated deal also means
that the companies' plans to sell
assets in Illinois, Massachusetts and
New York to rapper and business
mogul Sean " Diddy " Combs have
been terminated.
Combs Global President
Tarik Brooks said the company
" remains committed to exploring
opportunities and pushing for
diversity in the cannabis industry. "
Tilray Buys Eight Beverage
Brands for $85 million
Canadian cannabis producer Tilray
Brands is adding to its alcohol
portfolio with the acquisition of
eight beverage brands from St.
Louis-based Anheuser-Busch.
Tilray, already one of the largest
craft brewers in the United States,
will pay the equivalent of
$85 million in cash for the brands,
the company said in a filing with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission.
The all-cash purchase includes
current employees, breweries and
brewpubs associated with the
12 September 2023 | MJBizMagazine
various brands. The acquisition is
expected to close by the end of
September, Tilray said in its securities
filing.
The new brands will join an
already large portfolio of U.S. craft
brewers. Tilray ranked No. 9 on the
Brewers Association's annual list of
the country's top craft companies
in 2022.
The eight beverage brands
included in the deal are:
* Blue Point Brewing Co.
* Breckenridge Brewery.
* Redhook Brewery.
* Shock Top.
* 10 Barrel Brewing Co.
* Widmer Brothers Brewing.
* Hiball Energy.
* Square Mile Cider Co.
Story Cannabis Co. Acquires
Four-store Chain in Arizona
Multistate operator
Story Cannabis
Co. acquired four
vertically integrated
marijuana licenses
in Arizona from Devi Holdings.
The licenses were previously
branded under the name Nature's
Medicines, according to a news
release.
A spokesperson for the privately
held company declined to share the
purchase price with MJBizMagazine.
The acquisitions include two
locations in Phoenix, one in Tolleson
and one in Glendale. All are currently
operational, and Story now
has 11 retail locations and two cultivation
facilities in the state.
Story also operates in Maryland
and Ohio and has plans to expand
beyond those states.
Curaleaf Looks to List on
TSX, Lays Off N.J. Workers
Curaleaf Holdings hopes to be
the next cannabis multistate
operator to join the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX) in a bid to tap a
wider investor pool, according to a
shareholder meeting notice filed by
the New York-based MSO.
Curaleaf currently trades on the
over-the-counter markets and on
the Canadian Securities Exchange.
The first step to list on the TSX is
soliciting consent from shareholders
to a list of proposed indenture
amendments.
Separately, the company laid
off 49 workers at its production
facility in Winslow, New Jersey,
citing an oversupplied market. But
marijuana advocates in New Jersey
are questioning why the company is
reducing production in a state that
has some of the highest cannabis
prices in the United States.
" It doesn't make any sense for
them to be closing the grow and
laying off all these employees,
just as small businesses get their
licenses and could be buying these
products, " said Chris Goldstein, a
regional organizer with Washington
DC-based NORML.
Terphogz Agrees Not
to Use Skittles Name
The makers of the popular
marijuana strain Zkittlez,
which borrowed its name
from a trademark owned
by Chicago-based confectioner
Mars Wrigley, will discontinue the
product line after bowing to legal
pressure from the candy giant.
Mars Wrigley initially sued
California-based Terphogz in May
2021, alleging that the cannabis
company's liberal borrowing of its
trademark damaged the " nearly
50 years and hundreds of millions
of dollars " invested in the Skittles
trademark.
MJBiz - September 2023

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