Multi-state operator (MSO) Green Thumb Industries (GTBIF +0.30%) is widening its network in a key marijuana state. The Chicago-based cannabis company announced Tuesday that it has acquired privately held Liberty Compassion, which operates medical marijuana growth facilities and dispensaries in Massachusetts. It did not specify a price.
Liberty Compassion has two retail outlets -- under the brand name Affinity -- that dispense medical product. One is located in Boston, and the other is not far from the New York border in the city of West Springfield. The deal triples Green Thumb's footprint in the state to three dispensaries in total.
The existing store, operating under the company's Rise brand, is located in the college town of Amherst and sells both recreational and medical cannabis product.
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Taking over Liberty Compassion's assets also gives Green Thumb production and cultivation capacity, which will help supply the local market. All told, the company now owns two such properties.
"The acquisition of Liberty scales our capacity to serve massive consumer demand in one of the country's most densely populated regions," said Green Thumb founder and CEO Ben Kovler.
The company quoted Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission figures showing that over $1.5 billion worth of cannabis goods have been sold in the state since its recreational marijuana market opened in 2018. That's a bit of misdirection, though, as the Liberty Compassion assets are all about medical pot.
That said, the medical segment -- which typically commands higher prices -- is robust in the New England state. According to Green Thumb, more than 100,000 qualified medical cannabis users reside there, and patient registrations ballooned by 245% last year.
Green Thumb stock outpaced the broader market on Tuesday. It closed the day 1.1% higher, against the marginal decline of the S&P 500 index.
