Dentons has advised Green Leaf Medical LLC on its proposed acquisition by Columbia Care Inc. for approximately US$240 million, plus additional consideration payable upon the achievement of certain milestones.

Green Leaf is one of the largest private multi-state operators in the US and a market leader in the mid-Atlantic region with cultivation, extraction, processing, and retail operations across its multi-state footprint. In addition to its dispensary footprint, Green Leaf also brings a leading wholesale market position in both Pennsylvania and Maryland, where its products are most widely sold under its nationally recognized gLeaf brand, including extracts and pre-rolls.

The acquisition, expected to close in the summer of 2021, will expand Columbia Care’s operational scale and footprint in certain key, limited license markets by materially enhancing the scale and capabilities of its seed-to-sale operations. The entire Green Leaf management team will be retained, and Green Leaf’s CEO and co-founder Philip Goldberg will join Columbia Care’s board of directors.

Eric Foster, partner and head of Dentons’ Cannabis practice in Canada, who led on the transaction, said, “Our leading cross-border Cannabis group is privileged to advise Green Leaf on this transformative transaction which will enable them to continue as one of America’s pre-eminent operators and expand and innovate under the Columbia Care brand. This transaction serves as another example of how Dentons’ global cannabis practice remains at the forefront of the world’s most rapidly developing area of law.”

Alongside Eric Foster, the cross-border Dentons team included Matthew Imrie in Canada, and Eric Berlin, Matthew Garms, Jacob Styburski, and Ashley Minton in the US.

For more information, see the full press release here.