A Pennsylvania judge has ordered the dissolution of a heavily indebted, state-licensed medical marijuana company that was once part of former chewing-gum magnate William “Beau” Wrigley Jr.’s fledgling cannabis empire.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Christine Ward issued the dissolution of Goodblend Pennsylvania on Aug. 21, according to Green Market Report.
The judge’s order, first reported by Law360, is the latest marijuana-sector setback for Wrigley and his former company.
Wrigley took over as the CEO of Florida-based cannabis company Surterra Wellness in 2018.
Rebranded as Parallel, the company expanded to five states, including Florida and Massachusetts as well as Pennsylvania, where the company opened retail dispensaries under the Goodblend brand beginning in 2021.
Wrigley stepped down as Parallel’s CEO in November 2021 after the collapse of a plan to take the company public via a special purpose acquisition company.
Wrigley’s erstwhile investors later sued the CEO, alleging he’d fraudulently misled them on key points regarding Parellel’s debt and assets. Those cases are pending.
Meanwhile, Goodblend Pennsylvania’s operations missed $5.8 million in rent payments on a nearly 350,000 square-foot facility in Pittsburgh, according to a lawsuit filed against the company.
That suit was filed by Innovative Industrial Properties (IIP), Goodblend’s landlord and a real estate investment trust that’s heavily involved in the cannabis industry.
Surterra Holdings, a Parallel subsidiary and Goodblend Pennsylvania’s majority owner, said earlier this summer it would shut down its Pennsylvania operations earlier this summer.
However, the company still owed IIP.
In the Aug. 21 ruling, the Allegheny County Court judge ordered Goodblend to be dissolved and its assets – including whatever medical marijuana remained – to be sold off and “distributed among its creditors and members.”
IIP has been forced to sue to recover past-due rent owed by other marijuana tenants in other states including California.
Separately, investors have sued IIP, alleging the company misled them by declining to disclose key facts. (Full Story)