Major Dispensary Takeover Set for September 1

The Green Solution, one of Colorado's largest marijuana business operations, is close to finalizing a sale to Columbia Care Inc., a publicly traded company based in New York. According to an announcement from Columbia Care, the deal will officially take place on September 1, several months later than initially planned.

When the two sides first agreed upon the acquisition in November 2019 — $110 million in Columbia Care stock, $15 million in cash and $15 million in senior loans for 23 TGS dispensaries and six growing operations — the deal was expected to take place in early 2020. However, that projection was pushed back to the year's second quarter, which ended June 30, and then pushed back again.

As several other announced marijuana acquisitions broke apart in 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic brought financial uncertainty to the stock market, questions about the future of the TGS deal began to bubble. A TGS spokeswoman told us one week ago that the merger was moving forward, promising an update "soon." Now both companies report the deal is six days away from finally happening.

“Closing the acquisition of The Green Solution represents a major milestone for Columbia Care,” Columbia Care CEO Nicholas Vita says in a statement. “The entire Columbia Care team looks forward to working with the TGS organization and leadership as we pursue our joint goal of being the leading cannabis operator nationwide.”

The originally agreed-upon $140 million acquisition package will remain, according to an August investor presentation by Columbia Care. According to TGS, Columbia Care has also secured an opportunity to pursue a marijuana hospitality license in unincorporated Adams County.

Colorado banned publicly traded companies from owning marijuana companies until 2020. If the Columbia Care/TGS deal goes through as announced, it would be the largest publicly traded acquisition of a licensed marijuana business in state history.

The Green Solution was founded in 2010 by the Speidell family, with much of the family expected to stay on board as executive leadership.

“This is a landmark acquisition that allows us to bring Columbia Care’s expansive product portfolio to our customers in Colorado, as well as enables us to quickly expand our brands, products and expertise to every major market in the U.S. We look forward to our continued success and growth, locally and nationally,” TGS co-founder Kyle Speidell says in a statement.