Nevada signs off on Vireo's Planet 13 deal, leaving shareholders as the last big hurdle

The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board approved Vireo Growth's acquisition of Planet 13 Holdings and its Nevada subsidiaries at its October 15 meeting. The board also approved Vireo's separate purchase of Clover Creek Organics. The Planet 13 deal was announced in July as an all-stock merger, with each Planet 13 share converting into roughly 0.0154 Vireo subordinate voting shares, a 16.6 percent premium to a recent volume-weighted average price.

What Vireo gets in Nevada is Planet 13's Las Vegas superstore and one other dispensary, about 45,000 square feet of active cultivation and production, distribution and consumption lounge licenses, and a much larger block of space that could be built out later. With earlier Nevada deals, Vireo projects about 17 dispensaries and 150,000 square feet of active production in the state.

The company also pegs Florida at about 33 dispensaries added through the deal, which would bring its Florida count to around 106 with other announced acquisitions. Those are Vireo's own projections, and they assume everything closes.

The state sign-off covers only the regulatory piece. Planet 13 shareholders still have to approve, along with other closing conditions in the SEC filings. For operators and brands in Nevada, the thing to watch is what a consolidated owner does with shelf space and wholesale terms after closing, since the same buyer now sits behind one of the market's best-known destination stores.