Culta to acquire 2 female-owned medical marijuana dispensaries in Maryland

Culta, a vertically integrated cannabis company in Maryland, said it signed a definitive agreement to purchase two female-owned medical marijuana dispensaries in the state only weeks before the launch of adult-use sales.

Financial terms of the equity-and-stock deal for Growing Ventures and K&R Holdings were not disclosed.

Growing Ventures, co-founded by Gina Dubbe and Dr. Leslie Apgar, operates Greenhouse Wellness in Ellicott City.

K&R Holdings, owned by Gigi St. John, operates Kannavis in Frederick.

Under the agreement, Culta will acquire all sales and operational employees from each dispensary as well as their inventory, data and leases, Renier Fee, vice president of marketing, told MJBizDaily via email.

“This includes the 11 employees from Greenhouse Wellness and the 26 employees from Kannavis,” she said.

“With adult-use legalized in Maryland and to be implemented on July 1, we plan to add even more headcount in these new locations in preparation for the expected spike in transactions.”

As part of the deal, Greenhouse majority owner Dubbe will take a board seat at Culta and Apgar will take the roll of clinical director supporting three dispensaries.

Culta operates a dispensary in Baltimore and is a wholesale cannabis distributor in Maryland.

Kannavis executives are exiting the marijuana industry to focus on their corporate real estate business, Fee said.

Maryland’s recreational cannabis market was set in motion last November when 67% of voters approved a legalization bill and elected Democrat Wes Moore as governor on the same ballot.

The follow-up legislation passed by state lawmakers and signed into law by Moore includes:

• Allowing existing MMJ dispensaries to sell recreational products to adults 21 and older.
• Setting adult-use taxes at 9%.
• Creating separate license categories for qualified social equity applicants.

Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/culta-to-acquire-2-female-owned-medical-marijuana-dispensaries-in-maryland/