Maryland
Ascend Wellness to Acquire Four Maryland Dispensaries for $19 million
AWH Continues Enlargement with Settlement to Purchase 4 Maryland Dispensaries
– Enters right into a definitive settlement to accumulate 4 working dispensaries in Maryland –
– Enters operations in its seventh state –
NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ – Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. (“AWH” or the “Firm”) (CSE: AAWH.U) (OTCQX: AAWH), a multi-state, vertically-integrated hashish operator centered on bettering lives by way of hashish, introduced that in the present day it entered right into a definitive settlement (the “Settlement”) to accumulate the Maryland property of Devi Holdings, Inc. (“Devi”), which owns and operates 4 licensed dispensaries in Aberdeen, Crofton, Ellicott Metropolis, and Laurel below the names Nature’s Medicines and True Wellness. The Settlement will broaden AWH’s operations right into a seventh state as the corporate continues to construct its footprint in restricted license states throughout the Midwest and East Coast.
Maryland is a perfect state to broaden our footprint – dwelling to greater than six million individuals, a mature medical hashish program, and voter-approved assist to create an adult-use hashish market.
Abner Kurtin, Govt Chairman and Founding father of AWH
This Settlement displays our technique of coming into limited-license, late-stage medical markets with an anticipated adult-use hashish market launch. This strategy has made AWH a frontrunner in New Jersey and Illinois, and we’re following the identical playbook in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and now, Maryland.
Transaction Particulars
Upon closing of the Settlement, AWH will purchase 100% of the membership pursuits of Devi’s Maryland dispensaries and associated actual property holding corporations for $19 million, $12 million of which will likely be paid in money and $7 million, or 5.19 million shares, of Class A Frequent Inventory. The shut of the transaction is pending the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing circumstances and the receipt of approval for the switch of the licenses from Maryland regulatory authorities.
“This transaction represents a chance to allocate capital to a enterprise that’s accretive based mostly on run fee medical earnings, and we count on it to be considerably accretive with conservative adult-use gross sales assumptions. We take issuing fairness very severely and regarded this transaction worthy given the enticing valuation, current run fee gross sales of $17 million, and $3 million of actual property included within the transaction,” mentioned Dan Neville, CFO and interim co-CEO of AWH. “We respect Seaport World’s assist as our monetary advisor on this transaction and stay up for closing and welcoming sufferers in Maryland.”
Maryland Market
There are at present 102 dispensaries in Maryland, roughly one for each 1,600 registered sufferers. The Maryland Medical Hashish Fee reported 2021 medical hashish gross sales of $600 million, with the 2022 MJBiz Factbook projecting 2022 gross sales reaching as much as $725 million. BDSA beforehand estimated that, ought to adult-use gross sales be permitted to begin, Maryland’s hashish market will attain $1 billion in annual gross sales by 2024. On November 8, 2022, Maryland voters accepted Query 4, making leisure hashish authorized within the state.
About AWH:
AWH is a vertically built-in operator with property in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. AWH owns and operates state-of-the-art cultivation services, rising award-winning strains and producing a curated number of merchandise. AWH produces and distributes its in-house Ozone, Ozone Reserve, and Merely Herb branded merchandise. For extra data, go to www.awholdings.com.
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