AAWH.U:CC - Ascend Wellness Appoints Interim Co-CEO's in Wake of Battery Charge
The chief executive of Canadian cannabis company Ascend Wellness Holdings (CSE: AAWH.U) (OTCQX: AAWH), Abner Kurtin, stepped aside from the helm of the business Wednesday, and a pair of interim co-CEOs were installed in his place.
The news follows a report that Kurtin was arrested in Florida and charged with battery after allegedly beating his girlfriend.
Kurtin will transition to being executive chairman of the board at Ascend, and the company will be led by CFO Daniel Neville and President and co-founder Frank Perullo as co-CEOs “while a search is conducted for a new CEO,” the release stated.
Russell Reynolds, an executive recruiting firm, has been retained in the search for a new permanent chief.
The Ascend board of directors said that it remains confident in its business overall, but didn’t further address the allegations against Kurtin or an internal investigation the company said it had launched into the circumstances around his arrest.
“As the company prepares to enter the next phase of its growth story, the board determined that now was the right time to initiate this transition,” the statement read.
Kurtin was arrested in Miami on Sept. 3 and charged with battery after a witness told police she saw him “striking” his girlfriend while they were parked in a car.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday, however that may change depending on the impact of Hurricane Ian.