CLAYTON — A St. Louis-based cannabis company has defaulted on a loan and owes a Maryland investment trust more than $22 million, according to a lawsuit filed Friday afternoon.

Viridescent Realty Trust, Inc., said it lent the money to Blue Arrow Missouri, a business that cultivates, manufactures and sells cannabis products.

The September 2021 loan gave the cannabis company just under $16 million, the suit said. By December that year, Viridescent said it had amended the principal amount to $21,331,206.

But the loan went unpaid and matured in September. Including interest and fees, the investment company says it is owed $22,164,543.

The suit named several defendants: 2 JL Investments Bulwer; 2 JL Investments Lake Ozark; Blue Arrow Missouri; Blue Arrow Holdings; Bah Dispensary; John Lawson Wilbers and Laura M. Wilbers.

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John Wilbers, an attorney who is the register agent for all the defendant companies except Bah Dispensary, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Lawyers for Viridescent Realty Trust, Inc. did not respond to a request for comment on the suit.

The lawsuit said the loan's collateral includes two properties — one in St. Louis and one in the Lake of the Ozarks — in addition to all assets owned by Blue Arrow Dispensary and Blue Arrow Holdings.

"The cannabis industry is a 'cash-heavy' business, and defendants have closed the bank accounts controlled by (Viridescent) without notifying (Viridescent)," the lawsuit says.

Because of this, Viridescent also asked the court to appoint a receiver to manage and preserve the business assets and maximize its value to creditors.

Blue Arrow Missouri's website says it's a "homegrown cannabis brand centered in Missouri."

The company has cultivation and manufacturing facilities in St. Louis and runs a dispensary in Sunrise Beach, which sits on the Lake of the Ozarks.

The company isn't alone in its financial woes.

Forbes reported in July that only about 27% of cannabis businesses in the U.S. are profitable. In the same poll, about 40% of companies said they broke even and around 32% said they were not profitable.

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