The largest shareholder of Little Rock cannabis processor Dark Horse Medicinals was approved by state regulators Thursday to become the sole owner of a Pine Bluff dispensary.
The state Medical Marijuana Commission unanimously approved Casey Flippo, CEO and cofounder of Dark Horse Medicinals in West Little Rock, to purchase Hash and Co. dispensary at 110 Grider Field Road in Pine Bluff.
Flippo will own the business through Speakeasy Dispensary LLC, according to documents filed with the commission. The documents named Arkanna Investments LLC, the limited liability company that owns Dark Horse, as the proposed management company.
Hash and Co. reported sales of just 13 pounds in November and 17 pounds in December, according to the most recent sales report from the state Department of Finance and Administration.
As a processor, Dark Horse does not grow marijuana plants or sell products to the general public. Instead, the company processes raw material from the state’s growers, turning it into products that are sold under the Dark Horse brands or other brands. Dark Horse expanded into Missouri last year.
Hash and Co. was owned by Jamie Simmons through Four M Win LLC.
In other business, Dark Horse brought on John Paul Denham as an owner who will hold a stake of about 3%. Denham will hold the ownership interest through 4 M Win LLC.
A request for a transfer of ownership for Body and Mind Dispensary in West Memphis was tabled at the request of the licensee and will be placed on the commission’s agenda next month. Commission documents show Stephen “Trip” Hoffman of Henderson, Nevada intended to take on a 40% stake and manage the business. Hoffman planned to purchase his stake through Big Stone Farms AR 1 LLC.
The commission also approved the addition of several new owners for Good Day Farm cultivation. The new owners include Donald “Boysie” Bollinger who will own about 2% of the business through a pair of limited liability companies. Bollinger is the largest shareholder of Berner’s by Good Day Farm dispensary in Little Rock.
From 1985 to 2014, Bollinger served as chief executive of Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana. A philanthropist and political donor, Bollinger served as the finance co-chair of Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns in Louisiana. Bollinger Shipyard’s website claims it is the largest privately owned shipyard in the United States.
The commission did not take up a request by attorney Abtin Mehdizadegan to reconsider a decision last April approving a transfer of ownership that removed Dr. Scott Schlesinger as an owner of cultivator Natural State Medicinals. Commission chair James Miller asked if the commission had jurisdiction to reconsider the matter, and attorney Julie Chavis of the attorney general’s office, which provides counsel to the commission, said they did not.
The commission set its next three meetings for 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 1, March 7 and April 4.