Trulieve gains exclusive Alien Labs and Connected rights in Florida, Texas
The perpetual, royalty-free agreement covers two brands, while a Texas launch still requires final state licensure and regulatory approval.
Theo Marchetti
Florida and Texas became the exclusive territories in a cannabis brand licence announced Sept. 28, with Texas sales contingent on state approval. Trulieve Cannabis Corp. NYSETRLV gained perpetual, royalty-free rights to cultivate, manufacture and sell two brands, Alien Labs and Connected, in both states, building on a Florida relationship dating to 2022.
The master agreement covers the brands' genetics, trademarks and proprietary know-how. It also allows Trulieve to negotiate licensing rights in additional markets; the release names Florida and Texas as the territories in this deal. Trulieve plans to add categories and formats in Florida, but gave no timetable for those products or for a Texas launch. Chief executive Kim Rivers also described joint marketing campaigns, without specifying a budget or the stores that would carry the new formats.
The NYSETRLV Google Finance page put Trulieve's Sept. 25 closing price at US$12.21 as of 4 p.m. EDT. The company announced the agreement before regular trading on Sept. 28, so the Friday close does not measure a response to the deal.
Florida is the established market in the agreement. In its Aug. 7 quarterly release, Trulieve reported 207 dispensaries across the United States. It opened four Florida locations during the quarter ended June 30 and one more in Marco Island after quarter end; the 207 figure covers all its U.S. markets, not Florida alone.
Texas Still Requires Final Approval
The Texas Department of Public Safety listed Trulieve TX, Inc on Dec. 1, 2025 among nine businesses identified for conditional licences under the state's Compassionate Use Program. The notice assigned the applicant to Public Health Region 1 and linked the expansion to House Bill 46, which authorized 12 new licences over two phases. DPS describes the Compassionate Use Registry of Texas as a registry of qualified physicians who may prescribe low-THC cannabis to patients with specific conditions.
DPS said a conditional licence does not permit cultivation, manufacturing, distribution or sales until the department grants final approval. Its notice described further due diligence on financial suitability, disciplinary actions and litigation history before a final licence could be issued. Trulieve's private agreement for brand rights is therefore a separate step from the state permission it needs to sell those products in Texas.
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"Pending final licensure and regulatory approvals, we plan to introduce Alien Labs and Connected branded products in Texas," Trulieve chief executive Kim Rivers said in the Sept. 28 release.
The release did not specify the number of Texas sites that would carry the brands, a first shipment date or a sales target. Nor did it give a date for the planned new Florida categories and formats. Trulieve can seek rights in further markets through negotiation, while Florida and Texas are the only named territories under the agreement announced Sept. 28.
Texas DPS's final licensure and related regulatory approvals remain the next decisions for the Texas plan. The Sept. 28 release provided no date for that decision or for the first Texas sales.
