Canadian company cancels $8.3 million deal to buy Maine marijuana grow operation

Canada-based C21 Investments has nixed a deal to spend up to $8.3 million for a cultivation operation in Maine that subsequently was linked to an alleged black-market grow.

The Bangor Daily News reported Tuesday the cancellation of the deal, which C21 had disclosed June 28 in a news release.

C21, which has made a flurry of deals in the past year, had trumpeted the planned acquisition in January as part of its drive to expand into the U.S. cannabis market.

In the news release, C21 wrote “the proposed acquisition being considered in Maine has been terminated due to the new legislation adopted in Maine.”

The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company didn’t elaborate, nor did it provide more detail in a subsequent regulatory filing.

According to the Daily News, the Maine cultivation property to be acquired is owned by businessman Kevin Dean and has been linked in recent months to a federal investigation on marijuana trafficking.

In June, a grand jury indicted Brian Bilodeau of Maine on drug trafficking.  According to a federal court document filed in April, Bilodeau had operated an illegal grow on Dean’s property since the fall of 2017.

Bilodeau has pleaded not guilty. Dean also has denied involvement with any illegal activity, according to the Daily News.