Harvest Health & Recreation and Verano Holdings have announced the mutual termination of the Business Combination Agreement dated April 22, 2019 (the "BCA").
"Prolonged obstacles in meeting requirements for state and local regulatory authorities needed to transfer ownership and operational licenses, adverse capital market conditions, a challenging environment for asset sales, all contributed significantly to the decision not to move forward with the pending acquisition," the team with the company says. "No breakup fees or other considerations are owed by either party as a result of the termination of the BCA."
"Given the persistent challenges in consummating this deal and current market conditions both companies felt it was prudent to move forward separately at this time," said Steve White, Harvest CEO. "We have tremendous respect for the entire team and operations at Verano Holdings. We wish them well and look forward to possibly working together in the future."
Mr. White continued, "We remain focused on continued development of assets in our core markets including Arizona, Florida, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Recent capital raising efforts have afforded the company sufficient resources to continue to invest in strategic projects while moving toward profitability."
"This decision was not taken lightly," said George Archos, Verano Holdings CEO. "While both organizations worked very hard to consummate this transaction, significant delays in closing started with the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust review process. Those were followed by state and local regulatory complexities in multiple states. Now with the COVID-19 pandemic often being dealt with in the very agencies that must approve the transaction, it has become clear that this combination would not be completed within the established timeframe. We look forward to continuing to grow our operations as one of the largest privately held multi-state operators in the U.S."
For more information:
Harvest Health & Recreation
harvestinc.com