Arizona company agrees to largest acquisition in US cannabis history

PHOENIX — Phoenix-based Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. is on track to make the largest acquisition in the history of the country’s cannabis industry.

Harvest will purchase Illinois-based Verano Holdings, which sells more than 150 cannabis-related products, for $850 million in stock, according to a press release.

The agreement gives Harvest the right to operate up to 200 facilities in 16 states and territories, including 123 dispensaries.

Other gains for Harvest include Verano’s ethanol extraction technology, a total cultivation expansion capacity of 900,000 square feet across three states and a team of more than 300 employees.

Harvest Health & Recreation to Acquire Verano, Creating One of the Largest U.S. Multi-State Cannabis Operators | Business Wire https://t.co/88tbp9C2yC $HARV $HRVSF

— Harvest Health & Recreation, Inc. (HARV) (@HARVHealthRec) March 11, 2019

“The combination with Verano fits perfectly with our vision of creating the world’s most valuable cannabis company,” Jason Vedadi, Harvest executive chairman said in the release.

“We are confident that this is an opportunity to continue to leverage each of our company’s strengths and drive continued shareholder value, while at the same time achieving the scale we know will give us a leadership position in one of the largest cannabis markets in the world.”

The two companies will enter into a definitive agreement within the next 30 days.

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