While cannabis producers are preparing to pounce on Illinois as recreational usage is about to become legal, the rest of the hodgepodge of states with medical or recreational legalization are still seeing continued growth. 

Most recently, Massachusetts-based Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CSE: CURA; OTCQX: CURLF) announced an expansion into Arizona through the acquisition of two entities in the Phoenix metro area. 

The cash and stock deal, valued at approximately $25.5 million, sees Curaleaf snapping up both Glendale Greenhouse and Phytotherapeutics Management Services. 

That former acquisition includes a 20,000 sq. ft. indoor grow facility and C02 extraction lab, in addition to an existing dispensary location with direct access to the high traffic Agua Fria freeway. Glendale Greenhouse’s extraction site will now be utilized by Curaleaf to produce a new line of edibles available later in the year, as well as for growing more than 3,000 pounds of flower product annually. 

Additionally, the existing license for Phytotherapeutics Management Services will now migrate to Curaleaf’s new dispensary designed to cater to the Phoenix population near the I-10 freeway. That site is also notably within close proximity of the Ak-Chin Pavilion concert stadium. 

Discussing the addition of the company’s seventh and eighth dispensaries in the Phoenix area through these buyouts, Curaleaf CEO Joseph Lusardi commented: 

The acquisition of both Glendale Greenhouse and the opening of our 83rd Avenue location demonstrates our commitment to the Arizona market and to providing consumers with reliable and high-quality cannabis experience. This transaction greatly enhances our processing capabilities and accelerates our plans to produce and distribute wholesale products in the state.

Aside from picking up new dispensaries and greenhouse locations, Curaleaf spent the month attending business conferences and launching research projects. 

Executives from the company appeared at a variety of North American panels in recent weeks to discuss the growing cannabis industry, including the American Cannabis Forum held in Toronto and Piper Jaffray’s Annual Consumer Marketplace Conference in New York. 

On the research side, Curaleaf jumped on the explosive growth of CBD in the U.S. by announcing a partnership with the University of Connecticut to develop new hemp cultivation processes. The tissue culture and seed breeding study initiatives funded through the partnership aim to increase efficient hemp growth and train a new generation of students in hemp growing procedures. 

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