The CBD business side of Columbus, Ohio-based cannabis retailer Green Growth Brands is going into receivership, just a few weeks after it said it wants to sell the struggling business.
The company announced Friday that it filed a motion to appoint a receiver with the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas in Ohio.
Green Growth Brands, which owns the nation’s largest chain of CBD retail kiosks in malls, plans to sell most of its CBD business to focus on running its marijuana dispensaries in Florida, Massachusetts and Nevada instead.
Earlier this week, The BRN Group, a New York-based branding company, told Hemp Industry Daily that it is still interested in buying the CBD business of Green Growth Brands, although the potential sale of the business might be delayed given the impact of COVID-19 on the retail sector.
GGB reported a loss of $35.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. The loss was an increase of 149% from losses in the fourth quarter of 2018, when the company reported a deficit of $14.4 million.
Green Growth Brands’ CEO, Peter Horvath, stepped down on March 19, and the company abruptly laid off hundreds of retail workers, citing “the collapse of the capital markets for cannabis-related businesses.”
The company trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker symbol GGB.
