The Times Union Newspaper reports
The board granted its approval of the $73 million investment pending review by the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). It also required that Ascend maintain MedMen’s current level of patient access and supply.
“The board has the authority to approve pending actions that were before the Department of Health,” said Tremaine Wright, chair of the body, before bringing the decision to a vote on Thursday. Conditional approval of the investment passed unanimously among the four board members who voted.
After the deal was first announced in February, Ascend founder Abner Kurtin said he believed his company would bring “fresh capital and a new perspective” to the state’s medical market. But the acquisition required state approval.
Some industry insiders had previously worried that the buyout, which has become a bellwether of the value of participation in New York’s market in advance of the board’s release of adult-use cannabis regulations, would not be approved prior to the initial Dec. 31 deadline written into the contract.
