Sean “Diddy” Combs is entering the cannabis industry with a multi-million dollar deal that will have local implications.
The rap and hip-hop mogul is purchasing marijuana dispensaries and manufacturing facilities in three states, including Massachusetts. Combs announced plans to acquire Cresco Labs and Columbia Care retail stores in Worcester, Leicester, and Greenfield, as well as a manufacturing facility in Leicester.
Cresco, which purchased Cultivate’s Worcester and Leicester dispensaries last year and operates under the Sunnyside brand, claims to be the nation’s leading branded cannabis wholesaler. The $185 million deal would “create the largest Black-owned cannabis business.”
“My mission has always been to create opportunities for Black entrepreneurs in industries where we’ve traditionally been denied access, and this acquisition provides the immediate scale and impact needed to create a more equitable future in cannabis,” Combs said in a statement. “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.”
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Combs discussed the challenges that Black entrepreneurs face when attempting to break into the cannabis industry, such as difficulty obtaining financing.
“It’s diabolical,” Combs told the newspaper. “How do you lock up communities of people, break down their family structure, their futures, and then legalize it and make sure that those same people don’t get a chance to benefit or resurrect their lives from it?”
Combs’ first investment in the marijuana industry comes from Combs Enterprises, which also has interests in music, fashion, and media.
Cannabis has now surpassed cranberries as the leading crop in Massachusetts.
Main Image:Fox New/Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
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