Stiiizy Acquires 12 Gold Flora Dispensaries for $25M at Auction 

California’s largest retail cannabis chain, Stiiizy, on Monday gained
control of 12 dispensaries previously owned by the now-defunct Gold Flora,
SFGate reports. Stiiizy bought Gold Flora’s leases and licenses with a $25
million auction bid on October 23, according to a court order filed in Los
Angeles Superior Court.

In a statement to SFGate, Stiiizy President Tak Sato said the company now
owns 58 retail shops in California and three in Michigan.

The bid was initially for $26.45 million, but was reduced
after Stiiizy discovered that three licenses – in San Jose, Costa Mesa, and
Santa Barbara – could not be transferred to new ownership, according to the
court filing outlined by SFGate.

Sweet Leaf, a competitor in the auction, said that its $26.3 million bid
should have ultimately won out because their bid was higher
than Stiiizy’s after the post-auction reduction. In a petition to make
Sweet Leaf the highest bidder, attorney for the firm said Stiiizy “had
months to conduct due diligence and knew that the sale was on ‘AS IS’
terms, and so it should have factored such risks into its bid.” A Los
Angeles County judge ultimately rejected Sweet Leaf’s attempt to stop the
sale.