Stiiizy, the largest cannabis retailer in California, just significantly expanded its footprint within the state.
According to SFGate, the company acquired 12 Gold Flora dispensaries for $25 million at auction. That brings the company's total store count in California to 58 — it also owns three in Michigan.
Stiiizy won the auction with an initial bid of $26.45 million but, as the report points out, reduced the bid by $1.4 million after learning that some licenses would not be included. That resulted in Sweet Leaf, which had bid $26.3 million for the assets, asking the court to recognize its bid as the winner. But the court ultimately sided with Stiiizy.
The auction closes the book on Gold Flora, which earlier this year filed for a voluntary receivership. It blamed it on mounting costs, debt and obligations from legacy lawsuits that arose out of its acquisition of The Parent Company, a once highly touted cannabis startup associated with Jay-Z.
"This was a difficult but correct decision to make for all stakeholders," said CEO and founder Laurie Holcomb. "While Gold Flora remains a leading operator and retailer in the cannabis market in California with over $100 million in annual revenues, the liabilities on our balance sheet, many of which are due to lawsuits we inherited with the TPCO business combination, forced us to file for a voluntary receivership that is necessary to achieve an orderly sale of the business."
