Curaleaf Holdings (CURA.C) added three new dispensaries to its growing cannabis empire today.

These three dispensaries come from the Alternative Arrow Care (AAC) line of dispensaries in Connecticut, and are strategically placed in key metro areas. Alternative Arrow Care operated three out of the 18 total dispensaries in the state, with the first store opening in Hartford in 2016, the second in Milford in 2017 and the last in Stamford in January of this year.

“The acquisition of AAC further strengthens our market presence in Connecticut, while reaffirming our position as a leading cannabis operator in the United States. As with most Curaleaf dispensaries, Arrow will operate as an essential service business allowing Curaleaf to continue to provide patients with the products they rely on during these challenging times. And like all our dispensaries, Arrow has implemented the additional COVID-19 measures to protect employees and patients while remaining open. We look forward to providing our products directly to Connecticut patients and to building a long-lasting relationship with them,” said Joe Lusardi, chief executive officer of Curaleaf.

Curaleaf has been in Connecticut since 2014, when they started cultivating and processing medical-grade cannabis. Today, they’re one of four licensed growers in the state and operate a 60,000 square foot cultivation facility in Simbury, providing high-quality cannabis products to 40,000 patients throughout the state. The AAC acquisition gives Curaleaf the vertical integration designation, and gives them the ability to provide products to the patients directly as well as through existing wholesale channels.

At present, the company offers a broad range of flower, extracted oil and edible products. The dispensaries will sell Curaleaf products along with select superior cannabis products from other producers in Connecticut. Curaleaf dispensaries have been selected as essential during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to stay open and serve patients and customers while implementing heightened safety and hygienic measures, including increased cleaning protocol, social distancing, new delivery options, including curbside pickup, mobile pre-ordering, express pickup, a waist list ordering app, and dedicated hours for seniors and other at-risk groups.

Curaleaf dispensaries remain open in Arizona, Florida, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. Also, Oregon, and Massachusetts and Nevada are both medical only.

More than dispensaries

We initially reported about Curaleaf’s acquisitions of Select, Grassroots and dispensary operator Alternative Therapies Group (ATG), back in our January roundup.

At the time the acquisition for the Select cannabis brand, owned by Cura Partners, was all but wrapped up, and included Select’s manufacturing, distribution, marketing, intellectual property and sales operations under the Select brand name. The Grassroots acquisition had been originally waiting for a response to their submitted certifications for compliance under the Hard-Scott-Rodino Antitrust improvements, and will have to wait a bit longer as the waiting period expired.

They now anticipate the acquisition to be complete in spring of 2020. Lastly, Curaleaf said it filed an application for change of control with Massachusetts’ regulators in its pending acquisition of ATG. They’re working to get approval for the $50 million all-cash deal as soon as possible.

It’s something of an understatement to suggest that the past year has not been good to cannabis companies, but some companies seem to weather this particular storm better than others.  Curaleaf is not one of those. COVID-19 ate into their price considerably, bottoming out at $3.75 and even as the rebound mostly effecting most cannabis companies in the sector caused an almost $2 bounce, they’re still far away from their $15 high around this time last year.

We’d like to safely say this is the right time to buy in, but this COVID-19 pandemic is far from over and it’s entirely possible that the calamity we’ve experienced so far is only the beginning. Stay in cash.

—Joseph Morton