MJBiz - August 2023 - 12

COMPANY NEWS U.S. & International by MJBizDaily Staff
U.S. DEVELOPMENTS
Investor Identified for
$200M N.Y. Cannabis Fund
Chicago Atlantic,
a publicly traded
investment firm,
agreed to invest " up
to $150 million " in
the New York State
Cannabis Social
Equity Investment fund, Gov. Kathy
Hochul announced.
The state itself will spend up to
$50 million to help bankroll the
fund, which was designed to help
social equity marijuana entrepreneurs
open " turnkey " stores.
Past Chicago Atlantic
investments include Verano
Holdings, a multistate operator
with licenses in 13 states including
nearby New Jersey.
Glass House and Catalyst
Trade Lawsuits
562 Discount Med, which does
business as Catalyst Cannabis Co.,
filed a complaint in Los Angeles
County Superior Court alleging that
Glass House Brands " knowingly
is entering into illicit sales-both
inside and outside California. "
The suit by Southern Californiabased
Catalyst alleges unlawful and
unfair business practices and seeks
an injunction from a judge.
Glass House's founders, CEO Kyle
Kazan and president Graham Farrar,
filed a countersuit accusing Catalyst,
CEO Elliot Lewis and Lewis'
co-founder, Damian Martin, of defamation.
The suit seeks an injunction
forcing Catalyst to remove defamatory
social media posts as well
as unspecified damages, including
punitive damages and legal fees.
Unionization Trend
Expands; Teamsters Sue GTI
National labor unions successfully
12 August 2023 | MJBizMagazine
recruited marijuana industry workers
from California to New Jersey this
summer, with distribution drivers,
retail workers and bottling-facility
employees voting to organize.
Recent examples include:
* Employees at Curaleaf
Holdings' three New Jersey
marijuana retail operations
joined the United Food and
Commercial Workers (UFCW)
Local 360.
* Eleven of 16 workers at Restore
Integrative Wellness Center, a
medical marijuana dispensary in
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, voted
to join UFCW Local 1776.
* Teamsters Local 1932 in San
Bernardino, California, added
81 workers at Growpacker, a
Desert Hot Springs-based cannabis
bottling facility.
* Patient-care advocates and
supervisors at Valley Park, Missouri-based
Bloc Dispensary, a
subsidiary of Justice Cannabis
Co., voted to join Teamsters
Local 618.
* Drivers at cannabis distribution
company Amuse in Southern
California voted to join Teamsters
Local 630.
Meanwhile, Teamsters Local
777 filed additional Unfair Labor
Practice charges against Chicago-based
marijuana
multistate operator
Green Thumb
Industries (GTI)
just weeks after
employees went
on strike for 13
days. The union
alleges that the company spied
on Rise retail workers during the
strike and has retaliated against
employees who participated
in the strike. GTI denied the
allegations.
Culta to Acquire Maryland
Dispensaries
Culta, a vertically integrated
cannabis company in Maryland,
said it signed a
definitive agreement
to purchase two
female-owned
medical marijuana
dispensaries in the
state only weeks
before the July 1
launch of adult-use sales. Financial
terms of the equity-and-stock deal
for Growing Ventures and K&R
Holdings were not disclosed.
Growing Ventures, co-founded
by Gina Dubbe and Dr. Leslie Apgar,
operates Greenhouse Wellness in
Ellicott City. K&R Holdings, owned
by Gigi St. John, operates Kannavis
in Frederick.
Cookies Execs Sued
by Former Partner
A company with ties to Californiabased
marijuana brand Cookies
filed a lawsuit against its
co-founders and executives,
alleging that they " abused their
power " and stole proprietary
cannabis genetics.
Attorneys representing
H n V Holdings, the parent company
of Seed Junky, a California
genetics company that partnered
with Cookies on a genetics brand
called Minntz, filed the suit in July.
Seed Junky's suit is at least the
third instance of a former brand
partner suing Cookies this year.
Ayr Wellness to Defer
Millions in Debt
Multistate marijuana company
Ayr Wellness reached agreements
to defer by two years principal or
amortization payments on debt obligations
worth roughly $69 million.
MJBiz - August 2023

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