Sean “Diddy” Combs invests $185 million to make the cannabis industry more equitable

Rapper and entrepreneur Sean Combs, better known by his stage names Puff Daddy or P. Diddy, purchased 9 stores and 3 cannabis production facilities from Columbia Care and Cresco Labs, two of the largest companies in the U.S. cannabis industry. America (USA), for the amount of 185 million dollars. The acquisition will allow Combs to create the first vertically integrated dealership to be owned and operated by a minority community in the country.

According to Press release published on October 4th, the rapper will purchase a total of 9 stores and 3 production facilities located in 3 states, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York. With this acquisition, “the largest black-owned cannabis company in the US” is created.

“My mission has always been to create opportunities for black entrepreneurs in industries where we have traditionally been denied access, and this acquisition provides the immediate scale and impact needed to create a more equitable future in cannabis,” said Combs, President and CEO of Combs. Enterprises. “Owning the entire process – from cultivation and manufacturing to marketing, retailing and wholesale distribution – is a historic victory for culture that will allow us to empower diverse leaders across the ecosystem and be bold advocates for inclusion.”

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Combs said he was disappointed by the lack of representation by minority communities in the US industry and that he wanted to make it more equitable.

“It's diabolical,” Combs said. “How do you arrest communities of people, destroy their family structure, their future, and then legalize and ensure that those same people don't have an opportunity to benefit or restore their lives from there”?

This purchase by Combs is in line with the merger and acquisition deal of Columbia Care by Cresco Labs, which was announced in March of this year, having been valued at US$ 2 billion at the time, and in which Cresco Labs is obliged to divest. in its assets in order to comply with regulatory requirements.

The acquisition by Combs will still have to be approved and validated by regulatory authorities, both at state and federal level. The acquisition will only take effect after the completion of the merger business of the two companies, which is expected to take place at the end of the first quarter of 2023.