MedMen, the “Apple Store of Weed,” gets $30M for pot retail push

MedMen Enterprises is taking on another $30 million in debt from Gotham Green Partners to continue its expansion across the country.

Culver City-based MedMen announced the deal Wednesday, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported. The cash adds to $250 million in conditional debt that Gotham Green already lent the company in March.

Chicago-based investment firm Wicklow Capital partnered with Gotham Green, a private equity firm based in New York, on the debt deal. MedMen will use the money to open more retail stores, including in states set to permit recreational cannabis sales, such as Illinois.

The Land of Lincoln is a key market for MedMen. The firm, which is negotiating a $682 million all-stock deal to acquire Chicago-based retailer PharmaCann, plans to open 10 stores in the state with recreational legalization set for 2020.

MedMen’s financials look a lot like many tech startups — the company is recording quarterly losses and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to expand with the goal of establishing itself as the premier retailer in the legal weed market. In its most recent quarter, it reported $63.1 million in losses against $36.6 million in revenue, according to the LABJ.

Still, MedMen has often been called a so-called Apple Store of Weed due to its sleek and stylish online and retail branding. The company’s $250 million deal in March included an initial $100 million loan and $150 million in future debt tied to its performance on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

MedMen’s stock price dropped in May after it reported the company was cutting executive pay amid a push toward profitability, according to Investor’s Business Daily. The firm is currently licensed for 86 retail stores.

The company raised another $100 million in January when MedMen spun off its real estate assets into Treehouse Real Estate Investment Trust, an entity created in partnership with Venice-based investment firm Stable Road Capital. [LABJ] – Dennis Lynch