Palm Beach, FL –August 6, 2019 – With the possible legalization of recreational use on the radar, large marijuana companies are looking at a $22.7 billion national market by 2023. In many states, the competition to acquire cannabis licenses was intense. Both big established companies and mom & pop startups rushed to be granted a license to operate retail dispensaries for medical and, where legal, recreational marijuana sales. In the aftermath, the playing field has morphed into a free for all, of sorts by larger companies, trying to increase their retail operations by gobbling up the smaller licensees. A recent article in the paper of record for Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Inquirer, outlined how the game has changed in Pennsylvania and in most other states: “The companies “that are already in place as medical operators will have first-mover advantage in the recreational market,” said (the) director of research for the Brightfield Group, “So in the East, we expect continued mergers and acquisitions activity.” Among the 75 or so companies that won permits in Pennsylvania, several still haven’t grown or sold a single gram of cannabis. And yet, many have entertained interest from multi-state operators like Harvest. “The speed at which it’s happening is blistering.” Active companies in the industry making moves to ready that include: Choom
Holdings Inc. (OTCQB: CHOOF) (CSE: CHOO), Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) (TSX: ACB), Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. (OTCPK: FFLWF) (TSX-V: FAF), Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF), National Access Cannabis Corp. (TSX-V: META) (OTCPK: NACNF).
“A dispensary that’s open and functional is worth $10 million plus,” said a cannabis industry executive from Chicago, who asked not to be identified because his company is seeking to buy additional Pennsylvania properties. “A grow that’s dormant is worth $15 million. But if the grow is up and running and producing, it could be worth more than $35 million.” With the uncertainty in the long-term market, it’s hard to fault the small companies for cashing out. “These facilities cost so much… (they) can’t get mortgages or loans from banks. If you want to grow, I don’t know where else you’d get the money.”
Choom Holdings Inc. (CSE: CHOO) (OTCQB: CHOOF) BREAKING NEWS: Choom, an emerging adult use cannabis company that has secured one of the largest national retail networks in Canada, is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire The Green Room, a popular cannabis retail store chain which has operated since 2016. The agreement involves the purchase of location assets from The Green Room which includes three (3) locations in British Columbia and four (4) locations in Alberta. The Green Room locations in Alberta and British Columbia feature several premiere locations for cannabis retail stores with multiple years of successful operation.
“Green Room was a highly successful operator that originally opened in Vancouver as a compassion club offering medicinal cannabis to their patients. Choom looks to build on the good reputation they have in the communities they served and open legal cannabis retail stores in their successful locations.” states Chris Bogart, President and CEO of Choom “Our priority for these locations are to bring our unique Choom experience that encourages sharing education with consumers about the safe and responsible use of cannabis.”
The two locations in Vancouver are expecting to receive development permits to operate legal cannabis retail stores. The location in Squamish has municipal approval and is awaiting approval from the Liquor & Cannabis Regulation Branch of British Columbia (“LCRB”).
Three of the four acquired locations in Alberta have received development permits from the applicable municipalities to operate cannabis retail stores. Choom will submit its applications for cannabis retail store licenses to the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission (“AGLC”) at its earliest convenience. Read this and more news for Choom at: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-choo/
Additional industry related developments from around the markets:
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) (TSX: ACB) recently announced the launch of a joint clinical research program that will produce multiple studies under the terms of their recently announced partnership. The research will examine the use of hemp-derived CBD as an effective treatment for pain, inflammation, wound-healing, and recovery on MMA athletes.
The ground-breaking research partnership is aimed at understanding key health and recovery needs of elite athletes in such a highly physical and competitive sport as mixed martial arts. Research data will then be used to drive the development of science-backed, hemp-derived CBD topicals that will be safe and reliable. These new products will help combat the rapidly growing market of untested CBD treatments currently being used by high-performance and non-professional athletes.
Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CSE: CURA.CN) (OTCQX: CURLF) recently announced the opening of its 25th Florida dispensary at 610 Lake Minnie Drive, as the company continues to expand rapidly throughout the state. Curaleaf has the largest cannabis dispensary footprint in the US, with 48 dispensaries across the country.
“In opening our 3rd Orlando area medical marijuana dispensary, we are proud to be able to provide patients in the communities of Sanford, Lake Mary, Lake Monroe, Longwood, Winter Springs, and Midway, Florida with access to Curaleaf’s premium quality products and educational resources,” shared Joe Lusardi, Curaleaf CEO.
Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. (TSX-V: FAF.V) (OTCPK: FFLWF) recently announced that it has received its licence to operate a cannabis retail store in Whitehorse, Yukon from the Yukon Liquor Corporation, Cannabis Licensing. Upon opening, this will be the 24th Fire & Flower branded, licensed cannabis store and will be located at #110, 80 Chilkoot Way, Whitehorse, Yukon .
In addition to continuing to deliver on Fire & Flower’s rapid near-term rollout schedule, the receipt of a licence in the Yukon territory demonstrates Fire & Flower’s ability to successfully open cannabis retail stores in provinces across Canada where private cannabis retail is permitted.
National Access Cannabis Corp. (TSX-V: META.V) (OTCPK: NACNF), Canada’s largest cannabis retailer, recently announced it has received two additional licenses from the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (the “AGLC“) to open cannabis retail stores in Alberta. The retail stores will be located in Medicine Hat and Calgary. The announcement comes following the previously released news that the AGLC has lifted the moratorium on new cannabis retail licenses.
“National Access Cannabis now has 9 new licences granted in Alberta since the lifting of the moratorium by the AGLC on May 30th,” said Mark Goliger , CEO of NAC. “With 34 licensed locations across Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, we continue have the largest footprint of retail cannabis stores in Canada. We are confident in our ability to rapidly and successfully expand our retail stores across multiple jurisdictions and we continue to pursue expansion opportunities, particularly in British Columbia and Ontario.”
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