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Chicago-area dispensaries part of Diddy’s $185M cannabis purchase

Deal is part of $2B Cresco-Columbia Care merger

Sean Diddy Combs with Cannabist Villa Park (Getty, Google Maps)
Sean Diddy Combs with Cannabist Villa Park (Getty, Google Maps)

A famous rapper has bought cannabis properties in the Chicago area in a deal that could help a massive merger within the budding industry pass muster with regulators.

Sean “Diddy” Combs is buying dispensaries in Villa Park and Jefferson Park as well as a production facility in Aurora, the Chicago Tribune reported. The properties are part of Combs’ $185 million purchase of nine retail stores and three production properties from the Cresco-Columbia Care marijuana business merger.

Combs will run the largest Black-owned cannabis company in the country when and if regulators approve the purchase.

“My mission has always been to create opportunities for Black entrepreneurs in industries where we’ve traditionally been denied access, and this acquisition provides the immediate scale and impact needed to create a more equitable future in cannabis,” Combs said in a news release.

A prominent rapper and record producer, Combs is set to pay $110 million in cash and $45 million in financing through seller notes. His purchase is on track to be approved around the same time as the merger, which is expected to be decided by the first quarter of 2023.

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Cresco owns 10 retail dispensaries in Illinois, which is the maximum allowed by state law. Because of this, Columbia Care’s dispensaries, which were recently rebranded “Cannabist,” had to be sold off as a divestment, giving a path to Combs to step in.

Since recreational cannabis use was legalized in Illinois in January 2020, landlords of dispensaries have been earning more green. In July, local investor Centrum completed a deal that more than tripled the value of a River North building at 60 West Superior Street occupied by a dispensary branded by Verilife.

Cannabis researcher Headset said U.S. cannabis sales are expected to pass $30 billion this year and reach $45.8 billion by 2025. Illinois’ 110 dispensaries sold almost $1.78 billion worth of cannabis products. Headset found that Illinois is on track to have $2.55 billion in annual cannabis sales by 2025.

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— Victoria Pruitt

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CannabisCelebrity Real EstateRetail MarketSuburban Chicago