Big Bud: Cresco announced it will acquired Columbia Care for $2.1 billion to form one of the largest cannabis companies in the country.resco Labs, the Illinois-based cannabis producer, will acquire New York-based Columbia Care for $2 billion in an all-stock transaction.
“We couldn’t be more excited,” says Charlie Bachtell, CEO of Cresco. “It’s a unique opportunity to create industry leadership; it's a very important time with some sort of federal regulatory reform, we think, on the horizon.”, with 18 allowing adult-use sales. Last year, legal sales totaled $26 billion in the U.S. and by 2030 the legal market will grow to around $65 billion, according to Cowen.
Columbia Care will expand Cresco’s presence to states like long-standing cannabis markets like California and Colorado, as well as states like New Jersey and Virginia, which have both passed adult-use but haven’t launched sales yet. “We have the material markets of today, but [Columbia Care] has the markets of tomorrow,” Bachtell says.
“Since our founding, our mission has been to deliver the best outcome for our stakeholders,” Vita said in a statement. “In an evolving industry, the opportunities to better achieve our mission through consolidation led us to this historic moment.”
Holy cow let them free