Sean Combs, more commonly known as Diddy, is planning on entering the cannabis industry with the impending purchases of medical marijuana corporations, Cresco Labs Inc. and Columbia Care Inc. This specific agreement consists of $45 million in debt financing, a $100 million cash settlement, along with three production factories and nine retail store locations across Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts – nothing has been made official yet.
“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,” Sean publicly stated this past Friday, November 4, 2022. He continued, “Owning the entire process – from growing and manufacturing to marketing, retail, and wholesale distribution – is a historic win for the culture that will allow us to empower diverse leaders throughout the ecosystem and be bold advocates for inclusion.”
CEO of Cresco Labs Inc., Charles Bachtell, went on to release a short statement on behalf of his business’s upcoming decision: “For Cresco, the transaction is a major step towards closing the Columbia Care acquisition and our leadership position in one of the largest consumer product categories of the future.” Even with the cannabis industry being completely flooded at the moment, Combs still has the opportunity to make history: being as, if approved, this deal will be confirmed as “the country’s largest licensed and Black-owned cannabis company,” according to official timeline documents.