LOS ANGELES, July 5,
2023 – PRESS RELEASE – MedMen
Enterprises Inc., a premier cannabis company with operations across the United
States, announced the appointments of Ellen Deutsch as CEO, effective
immediately, and Amit Pandey as chief financial officer, effective July 24th.
Deutsch
succeeds interim CEO Edward Record, who will now continue as a non-executive
member of MedMen’s board of directors. Deutsch has also been appointed to the company’s
board of directors, increasing the size of the board to six.
“We thank Ed for his tenure as interim CEO and success
initiating MedMen’s turnaround and returning the company to positive adjusted
EBITDA. We look forward to his continued presence as a member of our board of directors,”
said Michael Serruya, MedMen’s chairman. “Ellen’s leadership and strong
operational experience in the public cannabis sector will prove invaluable as
we complete our restructuring plan and transition into a new phase of growth
for the company.”
Deutsch brings deep operational, marketing, and financial
experience and expertise in the cannabis and consumer packaged goods (CPG)
industries, having most recently served as senior vice president of market development
and shared services at Acreage Holdings, a vertically integrated, multistate
operator of cannabis cultivation and retailing facilities in the U.S. Before
joining Acreage, Deutsch served as executive vice president/chief operating officer
at Stem Holdings Inc., a vertically integrated cannabis branded products and
technology company, following two decades in the C-suite of Hain Celestial,
predominantly as its senior vice president/chief growth officer, among other
leadership roles.
“MedMen is one of the most recognizable brand names in
cannabis and has a loyal base of consumers who trust it to deliver excellence
in product and customer experience,” Deutsch said. “It is an exciting challenge
to lead its team of dedicated professionals to deliver value for all
stakeholders as we enter a new phase of the company’s strategic vision and
implement plans to strengthen our core.”
Pandey joins MedMen with a lengthy financial background in
private and public markets spanning cannabis, CPG and fintech. He previously
served as executive vice president and interim CFO of finance at Clever Leaves
International Inc., a global medical cannabis company with one of the world's
largest cultivation and extraction capacities, which he joined in its early
stages and led to the public listing on Nasdaq. Prior to Clever Leaves, Pandey
served as the CFO of PayCommerce LLC, a private-equity-backed B2B global
cross-border platform fintech SAAS firm.
“Amit’s considerable background and experience in both the
public and private capital markets in cannabis and CPG sectors will be critical
to MedMen’s short-term restructuring and long-term growth,” Serruya said. “With
the addition of Ellen and Amit, MedMen has completed the buildout of its
go-forward management team.”
