Acquisition propels Green Thumb into RI medical marijuana market

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Green Thumb Industries said it closed a deal to acquire one of only three operational medical cannabis dispensaries in Rhode Island, further advancing the Chicago-based company’s national industry footprint.

According to a news release issued Monday, Green Thumb Industries (GTI) is acquiring CanWell Processing and Mobley Pain Management and Wellness Center. Both companies hold stakes in Summit Medical Compassion Center, a nonprofit MMJ dispensary in Warwick, just south of Providence.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

GTI’s acquisition is notable because Rhode Island currently has only three licensed MMJ dispensaries, called compassion centers. The state has approved the licensing of six more compassion centers, but a lottery to award those permits is currently stalled.

The acquisition also brings GTI’s footprint to almost 50% of the operational cannabis markets in the United States, with interests in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

“Entry into the Rhode Island cannabis market further strengthens Green Thumb’s position on the East Coast,” GTI Chief Executive Officer Ben Kovler said in the release, adding that the deal “provides immediate scale within a limited license market and sits squarely in our enter, open, scale strategy to expand.”

GTI has been on an acquisition spree for some time now, including a recent purchase of Liberty Compassion, a vertically integrated MMJ operator in Massachusetts.