ACE Venture, a New York-based MWBE-certified cannabis holding company, has completed a 51% acquisition of Vireo Health of New York, launching Boukét as its flagship cannabis lifestyle brand. Founded by Steven Acevedo, ACE Venture is establishing a house-of-brands ecosystem anchored by celebrity partnerships with Rohan Marley, Kareem "Biggs" Burke and Gee Roberson. Burke launches RËDO96, whilst Marley's Lion Order debuted on 20 April 2026. Roberson serves as Cultural Creative Partner for Boukét. Boukét products, including premium indoor strains and pre-rolls, are now available at select New York dispensaries, with broader expansion planned for later in 2026. The acquisition combines Vireo Health's established medical cannabis licence and operational infrastructure with ACE Venture's cultural positioning and community ownership model.

Is a cannabis M&A tidal wave on the way? * March 13, 2026 At the end of the month (March 30, 2026), shareholders of one of the fastest growing Canadian licenced producers, Organigram Global, will convene to decide the fate of its proposed €250m acquisition of Sanity Group. The deal, announced in February, marks the largest bet on Europe's largest medical cannabis market by a North American operator to date, and signals a bullish outlook on the European opportunity more widely. While perhaps the most significant, certainly from the European perspective, it is by no means the only major M&A deal to have been announced over the last few months. Just this week, German pharmaceutical cannabis company Canify AG and African medical cannabis cultivator MG Health Limited announced plans to merge. Canify's announcement came just days after Tilray announced its $40m acquisition of craft beer giant Brewdog. These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Since September 2025, over a dozen further significant M&A deals have been announced across the globe. * September 19, 2025 - InterCure / ISHI (Botanico Ltd.) Financials undisclosed * September 2025 - High Tide / Remexian Pharma €27.2m for 51% stake (implying ~€53m full equity value) Your own reporting * October 14, 2025 - Vireo / Schwazze convertible notes $62m for notes with ~$91m face value (30% discount to par); Vireo to acquire majority of Schwazze's 63 dispensaries and 10 manufacturing facilities in Colorado and New Mexico * December 9, 2025 - Cronos / CanAdelaar US$67m upfront plus EBITDA-based earnout * December 15, 2025 - Canopy Growth / MTL Cannabis C$179m enterprise value * December 22, 2025 - Vireo / Eaze $47m in base consideration, all-stock (84m subordinate voting shares at $0.56 per share) * December 16, 2025 - Vireo / PharmaCann Colorado assets $49m all-stock plus assumption of certain liabilities * December 30, 2025 - TerrAscend / Union Chill $13m total commitment * January 5, 2026 - Wyld / Grön Financials undisclosed * January 06, 2026 - Nabis / Humble Cannabis Solutions ~$33m * January 14, 2026 - Little Green Pharma / Cannatrek reverse takeover (all stock transaction) * February 05, 2026 - Millstreet Credit Fund / Cannabist Virginia assets $130m loan-to-own * February 18, 2026 - Organigram / Sanity Group up to €250m (€113.4m upfront, earnout of up to €113.8m) * March 3, 2026 - Verdant Capital Partners / Native Roots 17 Colorado stores, financials undisclosed * March 2, 2026 - Tilray / BrewDog £33m for BrewDog's global brand and IP, UK brewing operations, and 11 brewpubs across the UK and Ireland. * March 12, 2026 - Canify AG / MG Health Financials undisclosed With this in mind, it seems hard to argue that the long-touted 'tidal wave' of cannabis M&A deals is not now upon us. But, as Mitchell Osak, strategist, consultant, and author of the Cannabis Management Review, argues, with thousands of companies operating across a fragmented global cannabis industry, 'inevitably some M&A is happening'. In his view, for this to represent a genuine wave, 'lots of big, strategic deals that meaningfully influence sector revenue, market structures and the participant business performance', must take place. Writing in a lengthy analysis circulated privately earlier this year, seen by Business of Cannabis, Osak argues that the industry is not yet financially or structurally healthy enough for that bar to be met. Balance sheets are too stretched, Schedule III too widely misunderstood, and the macro environment too precarious for anything resembling a tidal wave in 2026. Yet not everyone agrees with that assessment. Veteran cannabis investor Seth Yakatan argues that the industry may already be in the early stages of a consolidation cycle. The mistake, he suggests, is expecting the next wave of cannabis M&A to resemble the headline-driven mergers that have defined other industries. Click through to page 2 to read Mitchell Osak's arguments in detail. Ben stevens. Ben is the editor of Business of Cannabis. Since 2021, he has researched, written, and published the vast majority of the outlet's content, delivering agenda-setting journalism on regulation, business strategy, and policy across Europe.

Vireo Growth Inc. enters into definitive Agreement to acquire certain assets of PharmaCann Inc. Acquired assets further optimize Vireo's operating footprint in Colorado with addition of 17 dispensaries Transaction expands Vireo's leadership position in the Colorado retail market with 41 total dispensaries Parties also enter into Management Services Agreement through closing which is expected in 1H'26 MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Vireo Growth Inc. ("Vireo") (CSE: VREO; OTCQX: VREOF) ("Vireo" or the "Company") today announced that it and its subsidiary Vireo Health, Inc. have entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement ("APA") to acquire certain retail assets and properties of PharmaCann Inc. in the State of Colorado. The transaction will expand Vireo's position in Colorado's adult-use retail market to 41 total active dispensaries, and is subject to satisfaction of closing conditions and state and local regulatory approvals. Total consideration for the acquired assets and property will be approximately $49.0 million, payable in subordinate voting shares of the Company at closing, as well as the assumption of certain liabilities. The share consideration payable in the transaction will be subject to adjustment based on inventory levels and trade payables of the acquired dispensaries, as well as the occurrence of certain other events by the closing date. The share consideration will be subject to customary resale restrictions under Canadian securities law and hold period under the rules of the Canadian Securities Exchange. Vireo also announced one of Vireo's subsidiaries has entered into a Management Services Agreement with the sellers pursuant to which one of Vireo's subsidiaries will provide management services to operate the acquired dispensaries through closing, upon necessary regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close during the first half of calendar year 2026. Chief Executive Officer John Mazarakis commented, "We are pleased to announce this transaction which reflects the continuation of our strategy to continue growing our business through accretive M&A. This transaction will complement our other recently acquired assets in Colorado." Vireo was founded in 2014 as a pioneering medical cannabis company. Vireo is building a disciplined, strategically aligned, and execution-focused platform in the industry. This strategy drives our intense local market focus while leveraging the strength of a national portfolio. We are committed to hiring industry leaders and deploying capital and talent where we believe it will drive the most value. Vireo operates with a long-term mindset, a bias for action, and an unapologetic commitment to its customers, employees, shareholders, industry collaborators, and the communities it serves. For more information about Vireo, visit www.vireogrowth.com. This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable United States and Canadian securities legislation. To the extent any forward-looking information in this press release constitutes "financial outlooks" within the meaning of applicable United States or Canadian securities laws, this information is being provided as preliminary financial results; the reader is cautioned that this information may not be appropriate for any other purpose and the reader should not place undue reliance on such financial outlooks. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as "should," "believe," "estimate," "would," "looking forward," "may," "continue," "expect," "expected," "will," "likely," "subject to," and variations of such words and phrases, or any statements or clauses containing verbs in any future tense and includes statements regarding the Company's future M&A strategy and optimization of all areas of the Company's business; expectations around the proposed transactions involving PharmaCann Inc. and its assets, including the anticipated timing of the closing thereof and the potential complementary nature of such transaction to Vireo's other recently acquired assets in Colorado. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Forward-looking information includes both known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company or its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements or information contained in this press release. Financial outlooks, as with forward-looking information generally, are, without limitation, based on the assumptions and subject to various risks as set out herein and in our Annual Report on Form 10 K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10 Q filed with the Securities Exchange Commission. Our actual financial position and results of operations may differ materially from management's current expectations and, as a result, our revenue, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, and cash on hand may differ materially from the values provided in this press release. Forward-looking information is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management, believed but not certain to be reasonable, in light of management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions, and expected developments, as well as other factors relevant in the circumstances, including assumptions in respect of current and future market conditions, the current and future regulatory environment, and the availability of licenses, approvals and permits. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, the reader should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: risks involved with the adverse impact of the transactions contemplated by the APA on the Company's business, financial condition, and results of operations; the Company's ability to successful consummate the transactions contemplated by the APA; the Company's ability to maintain relationships with suppliers, customers, employees and other third parties as a result of the transactions contemplated by the APA; the effects of the transactions contemplated by the APA on the Company and the interests of various constituents; risks and uncertainties associated with the transactions contemplated by the APA, some of which are beyond the Company's control; risks related to the timing and content of adult-use legislation in markets where the Company currently operates; current and future market conditions, including the market price of the subordinate voting shares of the Company; risks related to epidemics and pandemics; federal, state, local, and foreign government laws, rules, and regulations, including federal and state laws and regulations in the United States relating to cannabis operations in the United States and any changes to such laws or regulations; operational, regulatory and other risks; execution of business strategy; management of growth; difficulties inherent in forecasting future events; conflicts of interest; risks inherent in an agricultural business; risks inherent in a manufacturing business; liquidity and the ability of the Company to raise additional financing to continue as a going concern; the Company's ability to meet the demand for flower in its various markets; our ability to dispose of our assets held for sale at an acceptable price or at all; and risk factors set out in the Company's Annual Reports on Form 10 K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10 Q, which are available on EDGAR with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and filed with the Canadian securities regulators and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements.