Government Affairs and Public Policy and Cannabis Sector Team partner Zachary Kobrin was featured in a CTFN article discussing the New York State Attorney General’s investigation into the Columbia Care/Cresco Labs merger. While the move by state authorities represents one of the first antitrust investigations of its kind into the cannabis industry, the action remains the only unexpected hurdle that the transaction has encountered thus far. Kobrin suggested that the company’s diligence and divestiture execution will likely hold up to antitrust scrutiny as the parties move to close the deal. The staunch regulatory divide in the industry demands a tough scrutiny, but public cannabis companies such as Columbia and Cresco are well accustomed to the protocols..
"All of these regulatory approvals now become a condition to closing…so you end up doing a very structured deal,” noted Kobrin. “Ultimately, [the companies] do the analysis internally beforehand, determine where potential weak points are, and put a plan in place to address it.”