CanniMed Therapeutics’s CEO is railing against Aurora Cannabis’ takeover offer as being financed with “Monopoly money.”

“At $24 – offering their ‘Monopoly money,’ as I call it … offering paper – it’s really a house of cards and they’re trying to in-fill with really solid businesses,” CanniMed president and CEO Brent Zettl told BNN in an interview on Monday.

“If that wasn’t the case, why would [Aurora executive vice-president] Cam Battley say two weeks ago that he expects the assets are worth two-to-three times what they are? If that’s the case then that would mean that our stock should be trading at a $40-$50 share, not a $24 share.”

CanniMed (CMED.TO) announced Monday that it is seeking regulatory action in Saskatchewan and Ontario to combat Aurora’s (ACB.TO) unsolicited takeover offer.

Aurora launched its all-stock bid last month, while simultaneously calling for CanniMed to abandon its proposed acquisition of Tragically Hip-backed cannabis company Newstrike Resources Ltd. (HIP.V).

Zettl told BNN that his company’s pursuit of Newstrike makes sense as it seeks out a foothold in the recreational market.

“We said in December, when we went public, that we were going to go to the [recreational] market once we knew the lay of the land and once we could see what it was going to be like. Newstrike has all the components of it: Having The Tragically Hip and the upbranding behind it, having a management team and having facilities in Ontario that would add to our value,” Zettl told BNN.

“We believe that this is the best way for our shareholders to maximize the value that’s going to realize in that. The Aurora bid attempts to undermine that.”