The parent company of High Times announced a major expansion into the cannabis growing and processing industry on Friday, saying it has begun the process to acquire California-based cannabis holding company Humboldt Heritage Inc. and its subsidiaries Humboldt Sun Growers Guild and Grateful Eight LLC.

Hightimes Holding Corp. said it had inked a letter of intent to acquire Humboldt, which will give it “cannabis growing, processing and product manufacturing capabilities direct from the most coveted cannabis community in the world, Humboldt County.”

“High Times’ mission is to connect consumers to cannabis – not only the best access and experience, but by making the best products available to our consumers across the country, and eventually the world,” Adam Levin, Hightimes Holding Corp.’s Executive Chairman said in a statement. “This addition adds 200+ of the best cannabis-producing farms in the world, and the rest of the capabilities we’ll need to grow into the future as a larger High Times family!”

High Times They Are a-Changin’

It has been a busy year so far for this publication’s owner. In January, Hightimes Holding Corp. named Stormy Simon as its new CEO. Simon, who joined the company after previously serving as president of the online retailer Overstock.com, succeeded Kraig Fox.

“The cost of customer acquisition has plagued the cannabis industry thus far, but utilizing the High Times brand’s global audience, we should be able to monetize our traffic by connecting consumers to cannabis products at an unprecedented scale,” Simon said at the time of her hire.

Later that same month, the company announced it will be opening two flagship retail stores in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The first two stores will set up shop in a pair of the biggest cannabis markets in the United States. California legalized recreational marijuana use in 2016, while Nevada did the same a year later. Currently, there are 11 states in the country that have lifted the prohibition on recreational pot use.

Barry Nachshon, CEO of Humboldt Heritage Inc, said in a statement on Friday that the acquisition “allows our cultivators’ and their artisan brands unprecedented exposure to consumers as High Times reaches millions of people all over the world.”

“The farmers in Humboldt Country have been leading parallel missions to High Times over the past 45 years,” said Nachshon. “Knowing that we will be part of the High Times family, as well as a key manufacturing and supply chain partner as the company enters the retail and delivery markets in California is very exciting for our team.”