Owners of Colorado cannabis dispensaries who want to get out of the medical marijuana industry or simply turn a quick profit might find their savior in Arizona-based Altitude Organic Corp.
The company announced recently that it plans to make formal bids for a handful of medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, saying it has identified cannabis businesses that it believes “would greatly benefit from the management expertise and leadership capabilities of Altitude Organic personnel.”
Altitude Organic manages numerous dispensaries and provides other support services – such as staffing, consulting and branded products – to medical pot centers in California and Colorado. The company trades on the over-the-counter market, also known as the “pink sheets,” with a current value of 1 cent per share.
Its desire to acquire dispensaries comes amid MMJ industry consolidation in Colorado, where new regulations, financial and competitive pressures, and increased scrutiny by the federal government have forced out some cannabis players and led others to seek mergers.
Acquisition activity is typically a good sign for any industry, as it indicates that people are willing to make investments in a sector.
“As most of our shareholders are aware, our company has learned to adapt to an ever-changing playing field as medical marijuana becomes legal throughout our great country,” Brian Cook, the president of Altitude Organic Corp., said in a press release. “The delays we have experienced in Arizona and, to some extent, Colorado, have served as a learning process from which we fully expect to take advantage.”
It could be a difficult proposition, though. The state’s Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division must first approve the acquisitions and the transfer of MMJ licenses, and the process for doing so is still murky.
