Cannabis firm Harvest Health seals $25 million Franklin Labs purchase

Help shape our annual “Diversity in Cannabis” special report by filling out our business survey here!


Multistate marijuana operator Harvest Health & Recreation announced on Friday it closed on its previously announced $25.5 million purchase of Pennsylvania medical cannabis company Franklin Labs.

The closing comes a day after Harvest revealed that it would no longer buy Chicago-based Verano Holdings, which was for a time was one of the biggest merger and acquisitions announced in the U.S. cannabis industry.

For the most recent deal, Phoenix-based Harvest is paying $15.5 million in cash and a $10 million promissory note for Franklin Labs, a subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based CannaPharmacy.

Last April, Harvest said it would buy all of CannaPharmacy, a vertically integrated marijuana company. In November, however, Harvest announced it would buy only Franklin Labs.

As part of the Franklin Labs purchase, Harvest is getting a 46,800-square-foot marijuana cultivation, manufacturing and processing facility in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Harvest said it expects to expand that facility, which represents the only cultivation facility the company owns in Pennsylvania.

“This accretive acquisition helps to alleviate supply constraints in a fast-growing market while contributing to improved financial performance,” Harvest CEO Steve White said in a statement.

White described the investment as “an important milestone” that allows Harvest to expand in the “key state” of Pennsylvania to help Harvest to “return to profitability.”

Harvest owns and operates five medical marijuana dispensaries in Pennsylvania. The company’s affiliates are permitted to operate as many as 15 dispensaries in the state, according to Harvest.

Harvest trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange as HARV and on the U.S. over-the-counter exchanges as HRVSF.

For analysis and in-depth looks at the investment trends and deals driving the cannabis industry forward, sign up for our premium subscription service, Investor Intelligence.