Tikun Olam, once one of the world’s leading medical cannabis companies, is selling its domestic assets for $42 million – or about half of its asking price of $100 million – according to Israeli media reports.
Cannbit Pharmaceuticals has reportedly agreed to buy Tikun Olam’s operations in Israel.
Rivals Bazelet Group and InterCure were also in the mix, Calcalist, a daily business newspaper, reported.
Tel Aviv-headquartered Tikun Olam’s international assets in Greece, Australia, the United States and Canada are not part of the sale.
The Times of Israel reported that the Ministry of Health did not renew Tikun Olam’s cultivation license in March, citing a police recommendation to restrict founder and majority shareholder Yitzhak Cohen’s involvement in the cannabis industry.
A court sided with the ministry in August.
The court said Cohen would need to cut his stake from 70% to under 5% for the company’s license to be reinstated.
As recently as last last year, Tikun Olam controlled 40% of the domestic market.
Today that number stands at about 6% of Israel’s 46,000 patients.
Tikun Olam started running into serious problems in November when it was hit with a temporary closure after the Ministry of Health raised questions over a new drying process.
A spokesperson for Tikun Olam did not immediately respond to media queries.
Vancouver-based Namaste Technologies owns 10% of Cannbit.
Tikun Olam was an early investor in Ontario-based Corporation before it was purchased by Aurora Cannabis.
