Cannabist Strikes Deals to Exit Ohio and Delaware

CHELMSFORD – The Cannabist Co. Holdings Inc. signed definitive agreements to sell its Cannabis businesses in Ohio and Delaware and has started voluntary proceedings under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) to support those deals and manage the rest of its portfolio.

Under the agreements, Holistic Industries Inc. will buy all of the company’s Ohio subsidiaries for $47 million – $34.5 million in cash at closing plus a $12.5 million promissory note, subject to adjustments. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2026. Parma Holdco LLC, an affiliate of a Boston-based investment fund, will acquire the Delaware assets for $16.5 million in cash, also subject to adjustments, with closing targeted for the second quarter.

The company also entered a non-binding memorandum of understanding to sell production, manufacturing, distribution and retail operations in Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland and West Virginia. It has already ceased operations in New York and is winding down in Pennsylvania.

To carry out the sales and preserve cash, The Cannabist Company and its Canadian subsidiary filed for CCAA protection in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The court granted an initial 10-day stay of proceedings and appointed FTI Consulting Canada Inc. as monitor. The company plans to seek recognition of the proceedings in the United States under Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code. Management will keep running day-to-day operations under the monitor’s supervision and the board’s oversight.

The moves follow a strategic review by a special committee of independent directors. The company has faced the same pressures that have prompted other MSOs to shed assets: heavy debt loads, high interest costs and a competitive U.S. market still adjusting to state-level legalization. In February it closed the $130 million sale of its Virginia business to an affiliate of the same fund behind the Delaware buyer and used part of the proceeds to redeem roughly $91 million of senior secured notes.

A group of senior secured noteholders holding more than 60% of the company’s 9.25% and 9% notes due in 2028 signed a support agreement backing the asset sales and the court process. The company has also named SierraConstellation Partners LLC as chief restructuring officer, subject to court approval.

The filing marks a measured step in a broader pattern of portfolio pruning among publicly listed Cannabis companies. The Ohio and Delaware sales, combined with the earlier Virginia exit, reduce the company’s footprint while generating cash that can address creditor claims. Success will turn on court approvals, regulatory clearances and the buyer’s ability to close on schedule. The outcome offers one template for how operators can exit weaker markets in an orderly way, but it also underscores the capital intensity and margin pressures that continue to reshape the national Cannabis map.