Ayr Strategies To Acquire Ohio-Based Parma Wellness Center For $17M

Ayr Strategies Inc. AYR AYRWF has signed a definitive merger agreement with the management company of Parma Wellness Center LLC in a deal worth $17 million in cash.

The agreement requires authorization from the Ohio Department of Commerce.

The multi-state cannabis operator, or MSO, seeks to acquire 100% of the membership interest of the Parma’s management company and related real estate. The $17 million will be divided with $13 million set for the management company interest and the remaining $4 million for real estate.

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of the following year.

Parma owns a provisional level 1 medical marijuana cultivator license, with original building plans for 25,000 sqare feet of canopy in a 58,000 square-foot building, which Ayr may later further advance, upon attaining necessary authorizations.

“Ohio will be the fourth state in our key Eastern cluster,” Ayr CEO Jonathan Sandelman said in a statement.

Ohio, which has a population of roughly 12 million, is behind Pennsylvania and some other medical markets in terms of patient penetration due to a more limited set of qualifying conditions, Sandelman explained.

It also has only 19 level 1 cultivation provisional licenses (the largest canopy license).

"As the market expands and develops over the coming months, we expect demand to grow significantly and we look forward to bringing our cultivation and processing expertise to the market to improve patients’ access to quality cannabis," he said.