NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Acreage Holdings, Inc. announced it has closed the acquisition of Florida-based Nature’s Way Nursery of Miami, Inc. (“Nature’s Way”). Nature’s Way was awarded a vertically integrated operating license last summer and will operate the business as Green Owl Pharms, the name under which it was awarded the operating license.
The previously disclosed transaction paves the way for Acreage to bring cannabis products to Florida residents throughout the state. As of December 28, 2018, there were more than 209,000 total cannabis patients in Florida according to the Florida Department of Health Office of Medical Marijuana Use.
"The combination of policy and demographics in Florida makes it one of the largest growth cannabis markets in the U.S. and we could not be more pleased to close this deal," Acreage Holdings CEO Kevin Murphy said. "With the fourth largest population in the U.S., Florida is expected to quickly become the fifth largest cannabis market with an estimated $1.1 billion in retail cannabis sales by 2022, according to Arcview Market Research."
Terms of the Transaction
Acreage paid the shareholders of Nature’s Way $67 million plus assumption of certain transaction expenses of the sellers, with $63 million payable in cash, of which $10 million had previously been escrowed in November at the time the parties signed the definitive transaction agreement. The remaining $4 million in consideration will be paid in units of a subsidiary of Acreage, High Street Capital Partners, LLC. The units are exchangeable for Subordinate Voting Shares of Acreage at the election of the holder.
Nature’s Way holds a vertically integrated operating license to operate a cultivation and processing facility as well as up to 30 medical cannabis dispensaries, which Acreage anticipates will carry The Botanist retail banner and soon-to-launch cannabis products. Acreage anticipates that it will invest significant financial capital throughout Florida to build out its cultivation and retail operations.
