Agri-Genesis signs deal to acquire Verts’ Missouri dispensaries
The acquisition of Verts brings the retail footprint of Agri-Genesis to nine stores in Missouri
Agri-Genesis, the company behind Sunrise dispensaries, has signed a deal to acquire Verts’ Missouri dispensaries, bringing its retail footprint to nine stores through an agreement that allows it to manage the locations ahead of state approval of the ownership change.
Agri-Genesis CEO Bob Pease told Greenway the transaction covers only the Missouri stores and does not include the manufacturing license held by the group. He declined to disclose the purchase price.
Pease said the company intends to submit for the ownership change as quickly as possible. In the meantime, the agreement allows Agri-Genesis to operate the stores and begin integrating the businesses.
“Once we get through that, then they’ll be fully owned,” Pease said. “But in the meantime, we’ll be able to operate them.”
The deal expands Sunrise’s presence in Missouri, but Pease said the immediate work will center on understanding the Verts locations, preserving their relationships with customers, and identifying what each business can learn from the other.
Finding the right acquisition
Agri-Genesis had been evaluating potential acquisitions for several years before reaching the agreement with Verts.
Pease described a competitive environment that has made it difficult to secure deals while remaining disciplined.
“There are a number of buyers out there that are paying aggressive prices and moving quickly,” he explained.
With Verts, Pease said the seller’s timing and desire to complete a transaction aligned with his company’s willingness and ability to move quickly at a price it considered reasonable.
The expansion also reflects the competitive pressure Pease sees as more operators consolidate. Smaller businesses, he said, face increasing challenges competing with companies that can spread their costs across larger operations.
“If you add more stores to that platform, it creates a lot of efficiencies, and those efficiencies allow you to manage your business in a way where ultimately you can bring more value to the customer,” he said.
For Agri-Genesis, Pease connects those efficiencies to the company’s approach to product quality and pricing. He said decisions throughout the business, including cultivation facility design, lighting, and nutrients, should ultimately serve the experience of the person buying the product.
“We’ve always taken the approach of trying to provide the highest quality products we can at the best prices we can,” he stated.
A gradual Sunrise
Pease said the current thinking is to transition the Verts stores to the Sunrise branding over time, although the company is still considering how to approach that change.
He acknowledged that the Verts name may carry significant value in its existing markets, while a shared Sunrise identity could offer management benefits.
“We’re not in any particular rush to (change the name),” Pease said. “And there could even be a transition period where maybe it’s like Verts by Sunrise or something like that.”
That transitional branding remains a possibility rather than an announced plan.
More immediately, Pease wants the company to understand what is already working inside the stores.
“I don’t believe that anyone should buy a business like this that’s doing well, where there aren’t very obvious problems that need to be fixed, and say what they plan on doing without first really getting to know the business,” he explained.
“The first order of business is getting into the stores, getting to know the teams, seeing how they operate, understanding what the current customer experience really is, and then trying to assess and figure out where there are opportunities for improvement.”
Pease said Sunrise’s management team discussed its integration approach after signing the deal and agreed on the same starting point.
“Everybody agreed it’s about listening and learning and understanding before anything else,” he stated.
Pease described the cultural fit between Verts and Sunrise as an important strength of the acquisition, particularly their shared emphasis on customer service.
He said store employees are central to maintaining that experience.
“I think that the store staff, store-level employees, are absolutely critical,” Pease said. “We don’t want to change that. We don’t want to change the customer experience.”
His approach includes bringing successful Sunrise practices into the Verts stores while adopting practices that Verts has developed.
“Everyone has something to learn and something to teach,” he said.
Community engagement is one of the clearest examples.
Asked whether Verts’ events and activities, including coat and food drives, would continue, Pease enthusiastically said they would. He also sees an opportunity to bring more of that approach to the existing Sunrise stores.
“One of the things that definitely jumped out to me as I got to know their business a bit better was how incredibly community-oriented they are and engage with the community in a very positive way, which has so many benefits.”
Pease acknowledged that Sunrise has participated in similar efforts, but said Verts has done more and executed those activities well. He described community involvement as a source of pride for store staff and something the combined operation can build upon.
Room for each store to serve its community
Expanding the business does not mean every location should operate identically, according to Pease.
He said Sunrise’s stores serve communities with different demographics and customer needs, and the Verts acquisition adds to that diversity.
“And one really nice thing about being a small company is that we can create a customized model at each one of those stores to appropriately serve those communities in which they’re operating,” he continued. “It doesn’t have to be a one-size-fits-all.”
Pease said that philosophy draws on his experience operating businesses in multiple states, where he developed brands, store designs, and operating models suited to individual markets.
“We’ve tried to create brands, businesses, team cultures, operating models that fit those markets and are appropriate for those markets and for the customers,” he said. “So same idea here, but just within the state.”
In practice, that can mean differences in product selection, inventory quantities, store layout, and how consumers and patients move through the purchasing process.
Carrying shared brands across multiple stores can simplify purchasing relationships, Pease said, but those efficiencies still leave room for local decisions. He also sees value in building familiarity with Sunrise among people who travel or move within Missouri.
Missouri remains the priority
Pease said integrating the Verts stores will keep the company busy in the near term. Additional acquisitions remain possible, but would depend on finding the right opportunities.
While Pease has held and operated licenses in multiple states, the desire to push Agri-Genesis to be an MSO is not currently there, he told Greenway.
“Our focus right now is certainly Missouri,” he said.
Alongside the retail expansion, Pease pointed to continued product innovation and the growth of the Farmer G brand.
He said the brand’s connection to Missouri farming resonates with customers, while its combination of quality and pricing remains central to its appeal.
“The quality of the product at the prices that we’re selling it at is bringing customers really good value,” Pease said. “So I think that we continue to lean into that, bringing great products at great prices to customers and continuing to innovate to meet customers’ needs.”
With the addition of the Verts locations, Agri-Genesis is poised to continue building its award-winning dispensary brand.
Brandon Dunn contributed to this article.
