Canadian firm to manage, but not buy, Florida MMJ company

Although a proposed deal for a Canadian medical marijuana company to purchase one of Florida’s MMJ licensees apparently has fallen through, another deal has taken its place.

DFMMJ Investment LLC, which is owned by Liberty Health Sciences, will take over management of Florida’s Chestnut Hill Tree Farm, one of the state’s seven licensed medical cannabis producers under Florida’s current CBD-focused program. And Aphria, the Canadian MMJ producer that tried to buy Chestnut Hill, is the primary investor in Liberty, according to the News Service of Florida.

Under the terms of the new deal, DFMMJ will “exclusively manage and operate Chestnut Hill Farm’s cultivation, processing and dispensing of medical cannabis,” the news service reported. The state health department approved the deal this week. Chestnut Hill Farm will retain ownership of the MMJ license for now.

“For DFMMJ and eventually Liberty, this is an entry into an attractive market,” Vic Neufeld, Aphria’s chief executive officer, told the News Service of Florida. “It is only the beginning for our plans to be a dominant player in the medical cannabis industry internationally.”

The firm plans to invest $20 million into MMJ dispensaries in Florida. And both Chestnut Hill and Aphria are planning to transfer Chestnut Hill’s license to DFMMJ assuming Florida’s medical cannabis laws are changed, according to the news service. Chestnut Hill’s sale to Aphria has been engulfed in a legal battle.