Embattled cannabis firm Skymint reopened three dispensary locations last weekend after a court ruling settled a squabble between the company and an entity it acquired last year.
Last month, Lansing-based Skymint entered into a court-appointed receivership after being sued by a major Canadian investor.
Skymint, which primarily operates under the parent company of Green Peak Innovations Inc., owes more than $127 million to Canadian investment firm Tropics LP, according to a lawsuit filed in the Ingham County court on March 3.
The lawsuit alleges Skymint was burning through $3 million in cash per month and generated only $110 million in revenue in 2022, $153 million below its forecast of $263 million in sales for the year. A second lawsuit was filed concurrently in Oakland County Circuit Court by New York-based cannabis investment firm Merida Capital Holdings and its affiliates against Green Peak and its executives alleging misrepresentation of financials and mismanagement.
Tropics LP, a subsidiary of Calgary-based Sundial Growers Inc.’s investment firm SunStream Bancorp Inc., originally lent Skymint $70 million towards the acquisition of competitor 3Fifteen Cannabis and its 12 dispensaries in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Flint and elsewhere. Merida, a majority shareholder in 3Fifteen, also lent $8 million toward the 3Fifteen purchase.
3Fifteen, however, challenged leadership of the company and retook control of several stores acquired in the deal, including dispensaries in Hamtramck, Grand Rapids, Camden and two in Battle Creek, according to court records.
The Ingham County Circuit Court judge overseeing the suit, however, ruled last week that 3Fifteen must cede control of those stores back to Skymint, determining representatives from 3Fifteen violated the court’s receivership order. 3Fifteen must also return $494,045.24 in funds removed from the 3Fifteen bank accounts at Live Life Credit Union. The court also ordered Live Life to return access of those accounts to Skymint employees.
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