Jim Rosica
MedMen Enterprises Inc. of Los Angeles, the country’s biggest medical marijuana provider, on Friday said it had closed a deal to buy a medical marijuana treatment center license and “related assets” from Central Florida’s Treadwell Nursery.
The $53 million deal, first announced in June, includes “prime retail locations with long term leases in Ft. Lauderdale, Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, St. Petersburg and Key West,” the company said in a news release.
“The state has high tourist activity and is home to the largest elderly community in the nation,” the release said. “According to Arcview, medical cannabis sales are estimated to be approximately $1.4 billion by 2021.”
“Our entry into Florida through this acquisition demonstrates our growing national footprint as well as our ability to execute,” said Adam Bierman, MedMen chief executive and co-founder.
“Our real estate team is hard at work preparing to put MedMen branded stores in the most coveted locations in Florida – locations in highly desirable and defensible market areas with high foot traffic and proximity to popular brand retailers.”
The license allows MedMen “to open 30 (and up to 35, if certain conditions are met)” medical marijuana retail locations in the state, and it also now has Treadwell’s cultivation facility on five acres near Orlando.
Florida has a vertically-integrated market, meaning the same provider grows, processes and sells its own marijuana.
On Friday, MedMen stock (MMEN), which trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange, closed at $5.40 a share, down from $6.02 the previous day. Its 52-week high is $7.15.
MedMen has operations in California, Nevada and New York, which employ over 800 people and “combined account for nearly half of North America’s addressable legal market,” the company’s website says.
