Curaleaf sweetens Aurora Cannabis takeover offer after past rejection

Curaleaf Holdings Inc. says it will sweeten the offer it’s made to buy rival pot firm Aurora Cannabis Inc.

Stamford, Conn.-based Curaleaf now wants to make an offer valued at US$5 per Aurora share. The offer will be comprised of 0.4013 Curaleaf shares plus US$1 cash, based on Curaleaf’s Oct. 2 closing share price.

The company says it’s boosting its bid despite Aurora rebuffing its past overtures because Curaleaf wants to signal it’s trying to negotiate in good faith and show it’s worth combining the cannabis businesses.

Over the summer, Curaleaf made a bid for the Edmonton-based company that was worth US$4 per Aurora share.

That bid included 0.3463 of a Curaleaf subordinate voting share plus 75 cents US in cash, based on its closing share price on Aug. 10.

Aurora urged shareholders to reject Curaleaf’s initial hostile takeover bid, saying the offer undervalued Aurora and was not in the best interests of shareholders.

“Today’s announcement by Curaleaf is not a formal revised bid, and Aurora has not yet received the materials required to conduct a full and proper evaluation,” Miguel Martin, Aurora CEO, says in a news release.

“While the announcement suggests an intention to address concerns Aurora identified with Curaleaf’s initial Hostile Bid, the Special Committee of independent directors will review any formal revised offer once received with the same rigorous, independent and disciplined process applied previously.”