California’s largest retail cannabis chain, Stiiizy, on Monday gained control of 12 dispensaries previously owned by the now-defunct Gold Flora, SFGate reports. Stiiizy bought Gold Flora’s leases and licenses with a $25 million auction bid on October 23, according to a court order filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
In a statement to SFGate, Stiiizy President Tak Sato said the company now owns 58 retail shops in California and three in Michigan.
The bid was initially for $26.45 million, but was reduced after Stiiizy discovered that three licenses – in San Jose, Costa Mesa, and Santa Barbara – could not be transferred to new ownership, according to the court filing outlined by SFGate.
Sweet Leaf, a competitor in the auction, said that its $26.3 million bid should have ultimately won out because their bid was higher than Stiiizy’s after the post-auction reduction. In a petition to make Sweet Leaf the highest bidder, attorney for the firm said Stiiizy “had months to conduct due diligence and knew that the sale was on ‘AS IS’ terms, and so it should have factored such risks into its bid.” A Los Angeles County judge ultimately rejected Sweet Leaf’s attempt to stop the sale.
