Curaleaf Takes Full Control of Germany’s Four 20 Pharma

STAMFORD – Curaleaf Holdings Inc. closed the final chapter of a four-year German acquisition story, completing the buyout of the remaining 45% stake it did not previously own in Four 20 Pharma GmbH, a move that converts a once-minority investment into full corporate ownership.

The deal traces back to August 2022, when Curaleaf first announced a 55% majority stake in Four 20 Pharma for €19.7 million, at the time framing the deal as a gateway to Germany’s then-anticipated adult-use market. That market never materialized on the timeline Curaleaf projected, but the company executed the full rollup regardless. Financial terms of the final 45% buyout were not disclosed.

What Curaleaf does get is substantial on the operational side. Four 20 Pharma holds full EU-GMP and GDP licensing and runs a comprehensive distribution network serving nursing homes, pharmacies, and research institutions across Germany and select European markets. The full acquisition strengthens Curaleaf’s vertically integrated global supply chain, connecting owned cultivation in Portugal and Canada to licensed German distribution, creating what the company describes as a seed-to-patient quality guarantee.

CEO and Chairman Boris Jordan framed it plainly: the buyout “reinforces our commitment to Europe and underscores the strategic importance of building high-quality, locally anchored operations in a market that will continue to grow exponentially.”

Since the initial 2022 agreement, the two companies worked together to expand patient access, advance research, and streamline the international medical Cannabis supply chain. That collaborative runway helped de-risk the full acquisition. Curaleaf wasn’t buying a business it barely knew.

The brand is also already traveling. Curaleaf has launched the Four 20 brand in the United Kingdom and Poland, with plans to extend it to additional international markets. Germany, in other words, is now the production anchor for a broader European brand rollout rather than an isolated national bet.

The timing carries its own context. Curaleaf has faced a difficult stretch in its core U.S. markets: tighter margins, regulatory headwinds, and mounting operational pressures. Europe, by contrast, offers a slower but structurally cleaner path, with medical frameworks that reward compliance-heavy operators like Four 20. Germany remains the largest medical Cannabis market in Europe, and full ownership of a licensed, established producer there carries real strategic weight, regardless of what adult-use reform ultimately does or doesn’t deliver.

For Curaleaf, this acquisition speaks less of a single transaction, and more of a reorientation: if the U.S. market keeps slugging on, then Europe, with its pharmaceutical-grade facilities and growing patient numbers, might be the place for Curaleaf to flourish next.