David George-Cosh

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Billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz has resigned as a senior advisor to Aurora Cannabis Inc. to pursue other commitments, the company announced Monday. 

Peltz first joined Aurora in March 2019 under a senior advisory services agreement where he was tasked with helping the company devise a strategy to find a way to marry its cannabis business with the U.S. consumer market. 

Peltz, a founding partner of Trian Fund Management LP, a New York-based hedge fund with more than US$9 billion in assets under management, was heralded at the time of his hiring to be a key part of a broader U.S. play that could help unlock potential partnerships with Aurora and other consumer-packaged goods companies. 

Peltz's departure comes just under a week after Aurora's chief executive officer Miguel Martin told BNN Bloomberg in an interview that the investor remained with the company and has been kept up-to-date with its plans to shift some of its strategic focus toward the premium segment of the cannabis market. 

"I've got a lot of respect for what he's done and what he's done with his companies, so I don't think there's been any changes there," Martin told BNN Bloomberg. 

However, since Peltz joined Aurora, the company's U.S. ventures have been limited to the acquisition of hemp retailer Reliva LLC for US$40 million in stock, plus up to US$45 million in cash or stock depending on whether certain financial targets are hit. That acquisition led to Martin's hire as Aurora's head of its U.S. operations and several months later, the company's new CEO. 

In an letter to shareholders last year, former Aurora chief executive officer Terry Booth told investors that Peltz's hire signalled that the company was "approaching our U.S. market entry in a thoughtful and calculated manner and are leveraging Nelson’s expertise and relationships to further advance our agenda."

Aurora awarded Peltz more than 19.9 million common shares of the company at an exercise price of $10.34 per share over a seven year period, vesting quarterly over four years. 

A spokesperson from Trian Fund Management declined to further comment on Peltz's departure from Aurora.