Competing multistate marijuana companies Green Thumb Industries and Verano Holdings have quietly joined forces to operate two dispensaries in their home state of Illinois.
Government records show subsidiaries of both companies are the registered managers of a shell company that manages NH Medicinal Dispensaries, which holds retail licenses for Rise in Effingham and Zen Leaf in Charleston, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Green Thumb spokeswoman Linda Marsicano told the newspaper that the two recreational and medical marijuana stores count toward each company’s 10-store cap in Illinois.
The newspaper said neither company would explain why the partnership was beneficial.
News of the partnership comes after Chicago-based Green Thumb this week announced a deal to sell $100 million worth of shares to an institutional investor.
Green Thumb shares trade on the U.S. over-the-counter markets as GTBIF and on the Canadian Securities Exchange as GTII.
Verano, also based in Chicago, raised $100 million in January in connection with a plan to go public on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
