Finalizing Of $2.1 Billion Acquisition Makes Trulieve Largest Cannabis Retailer In U.S.

The arms race between the largest American cannabis retailers has a new leader after a massive transaction in Florida was finalized over the weekend.

Trulieve, based just 10 miles northwest of state capital Tallahassee, announced it completed a $2.1 billion acquisition of in-state competitor Harvest Health, based in Gainesville. The deal includes Harvest’s 39 dispensaries in nine states — 15 of which are in Arizona, nine of which are in Pennsylvania, eight of which are in Florida and four of which are in California.

The acquisition expands Trulieve’s footprint to nearly 130 dispensaries and 23 cultivation facilities across 11 states. Analysts estimated back when the deal was announced in May that the combined companies’ revenue could exceed $1.2 billion by the end 2021.

The deal caps a year of skyrocketing growth for the seven-year-old Trulieve, which launched in 2014 when the Sunshine State legalized low-THC cannabis for patients with severe epilepsy. Business took off in 2016, when Florida voters passed constitutional amendment to expand the medical marijuana program to anyone with a state-licensed patient card.

The company is expected to outperform Massachusetts-based Curaleaf, which before the completion of this weekend’s sale was the largest cannabis retailer in the U.S. with 108 dispensaries, 22 cultivation facilities and 30 production facilities spread across 23 states.

“We started this company with patients in mind and with an absolute dedication to providing access to cannabis in Florida,” said Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers in an interview with The News Service of Florida. She added that despite the company’s nationwide expansion in the deal, it’s mission to serve medical patients “hasn’t changed.”

Prior to acquiring Harvest, Trulieve was Florida’s largest cannabis company by far. All but five of the company’s 87 dispensaries were in the state, and it had about 50 percent market share of Florida’s roughly 550,000 cardholders. Three of Trulieve’s other five dispensaries are in Pennsylvania and the company and has one each in Connecticut and California.

Trulieve’s national footprint will now include 37 percent more retail locations and a million square feet more in cultivation space than Curaleaf, Rivers said. The company plans to temporarily close all of Harvest’s retail locations this month to convert them to Trulieve stores and conduct employee training.