Aphria shares recover losses from December short seller report

Aphria shares surged Thursday and recovered losses that followed a short-seller report back in December. Aphria shares traded north of $11 on Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, above the Nov. 30 closing price of $10.51 for the first time since short sellers Quintessential Capital Management and Hindenburg Research accused the Leamington, Ont.-based pot producer of buying assets from insiders at inflated prices. The allegations led to a plunge in Aphria’s stock price, with the company losing more than half its market value in the three days following the short report.

Green Growth open to changing its offer for Aphria: CEO

Green Growth Brands CEO Peter Horvath said in an interview with Bloomberg that its takeover offer for Aphria might change in light of its bid being significantly lower than what the Canadian cannabis producer is currently trading at. Green Growth last week formally submitted an all-stock takeover offer that it had first proposed in December, which it said valued Aphria at $2.4 billion. Today that offer is worth about $2.1 billion based on Green Growth’s share price, well below Aphria’s market value of $2.6 billion. Horvath added there could be other ways to make its offer for Aphria more attractive, including the ability to raise capital for their business.

Tilray hires four new executives amid global cannabis push 

Tilray announced Thursday that four new senior executives are joining the company as the Canadian pot producer looks to bolster its top ranks amid a push to expand globally. Tilray added former Coca-Cola, Nestle, Starbucks and Diageo executives to new leadership posts in the company’s general counsel, operations, retail and human resources teams. The appointments come on the heels of several major announcements from Tilray including a revenue-sharing deal with Authentic Brands Group and a joint-venture with Anheuser-Busch InBev in December to research cannabis-infused drinks for the Canadian market.

Flowr to put millions of cannabis clones up for sale 

Flowr said it will soon make millions of its high-quality pot clone plants available for sale in Canada, a byproduct of cannabis plants from its Kelowna, B.C.-based grow facility. The company aims to sell three million clone plants – a little piece of the cannabis plant that has been cut off from the main cannabis plant – to other pot producers, home growers and micro cultivators this year for about $10 to $20 per plant in the spring when the outdoor growing season starts. Canadians in all provinces – except Manitoba and Quebec – are legally allowed to grow up to four cannabis plants per household.

DAILY BUZZ

One million
– The amount of pre-roll joints Moncton, N.B.-based Organigram produced since the legalization of adult use recreational cannabis in October 2018

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