Cannabis Giant Trulieve Gets Even Bigger With Harvest Health Merger

Two of the largest cannabis companies in the United States announced a merger on Monday that would rank the most lucrative ever if completed as scheduled.

Trulieve, a Florida-based firm that controls over half of the Sunshine State’s entire cannabis market and operates 87 dispensaries across the United States, said the $2.1 billion purchase of Arizona-based Harvest Health will land it an additional 39 marijuana stores. The new company will be the most profitable management services organization in the country, with $461 million in estimated 2021 adjusted earnings and a combined revenue of $1.2 billion.

The merger will combine 126 dispensaries and 22 cultivation and processing facilities across 11 cannabis-legal states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia. It will also add Harvest Health’s 1,200 employees to Trulieve’s company-wide staff of about 6,500 workers.

Kim Rivers, Trulieve’s CEO, said a statement the deal accelerates the company’s goal to expand across the country and create an “iconic” brand. Trulieve has focused on the Northeast and Southeast areas of the country while Harvest has focused on mostly on the West Coast – and some in the Northeast.

“Trulieve and Harvest are leaders in our markets, recognized for our innovation, brands and operational expertise with true depth and scale in our businesses,” Rivers said.

The merger is an all-stock deal that will give Harvest stakeholders 0.1170 Trulieve shares per Harvest share, a 34 percent premium over Harvest’s closing price on May 7. Both companies are traded publicly in Canada, and news of the sale sent Harvest shares surging 20 percent in the early-morning hours on Monday. It eventually closed up 12 percent. Trulieve shares started up over 2 percent on Monday but finished the day down 5.65 percent.

The transaction needs final approval from regulatory agencies as well as two-thirds of Harvest Health’s shareholders, per company policy, the release said. The deal should be completed in the third quarter of 2021.

This week’s announcement comes just four days after Trulieve completed its takeover of West Virginia-based cannabis firm Mountaineer Holding LLC for $3 million cash and about $3 million in company stock. It also bought Pennsylvania-based producer PurePenn and dispensary chain Solevo for a combined $66 million last fall.