Steve White hasn’t applied for any alternative treatment center licenses in New Jersey. But through a series of acquisitions made by his Arizona-based company Harvest Health & Recreation, he’s now arguably one of the biggest players in the state’s cannabis industry.
Harvest Health announced its acquisition of CannaPharmacy, parent company to Woodbridge-based Garden State Dispensary, in a deal of undisclosed value on April 9. It then acquired Verano, one of the state’s “new six” license holders, on May 13. The latter deal is thus far the largest acquisition in the nation’s cannabis sector, ringing in at $850 million.
These acquisitions put White in a position different than any other operator: Of the twelve licensed alternative treatment centers in New Jersey that are already live or expected to go live in the coming months, he is at the helm of two. According to White, they were opportunities he couldn’t pass up.
“I hope it’s good for New Jersey, too,” he said. “We think we’re really good operators and really responsible members of the community and I hope that people are excited about us coming.”
What does Harvest Health, which now spans 17 states and over 200 facilities, consider when looking for a market to enter? First, they examine the regulatory regime: is there a limit on the number of grow or retail facilities, and what are the restrictions on ownership? Beyond that, how mature is a given market?
“You look at some of those more mature markets like California and Oregon, we’re not interested in investing in cultivation in those places. We think the opportunity there has past,” he said. “New Jersey, by contrast, is a great opportunity to do well in cultivation, and for someone who is well capitalized, we feel like we can come in and really help in an area where maybe the incumbents haven’t had the ability to build out the facilities they were given license for initially.”