Chalice Brands, one of Oregon’s largest marijuana retailers, says it’s out of cash and unable to pay its rent and other debts.
It’s asking courts in Oregon, where its five retail subsidiaries operate, and Canada, where the parent company is headquartered and nominally publicly traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange, to put its creditors claims on hold and appoint a receiver to take over the subsidiaries.
That, Chalice said, could give the company time to find a buyer or new investor.
Willamette Week and the Portland Business Journal first reported the filings late Tuesday.
Chalice said in an Oregon court filing Monday that an oversupply of marijuana has cratered prices and contributed to the company’s cash crunch. It also blamed “a lack of Federal deregulation that had been expected by many.”
As a result, it said the company and its subsidiaries have put off payments to landlords, lenders and suppliers, as well as laid off staff and cut executive pay.
The subsidiaries owe more than $3.7 million to vendors, including more than $1 million in back rent, with deferred payments not included. Willamette Week reported in January that Chalice owed tens of thousands of dollars to several small Oregon cannabis growers.
Some of the creditors have threatened to lock the company out of retail storefronts or foreclose on its property, the company said.
The companies also carry “significant” but undisclosed debt to third parties, according to Chalice’s filing.
And Chalice says it, too, is owed more than $35 million it loaned to its subsidiaries.
The company operates 16 Oregon locations under the brands Chalice Farms, Left Coast Connection and Cannabliss & Co. As of Monday, the company said it had 134 full-time employees and 37 part-time employees.
Trading of the company’s shares has been halted for a year after it failed to file 2021 year-end financial statements. It expects trading would remain halted “indefinitely” and said it can’t guarantee there would be any value left for shareholders in a court approved sale.
– Elliot Njus; enjus@oregonian.com
