U.S.-based Curaleaf Holdings (TSE: CURA) has bolstered its takeover bid for Canada’s
Aurora Cannabis (ACB).
Stamford, Connecticut-based Curaleaf is now offering $5 U.S. per share for Aurora Cannabis. The new bid is comprised of 0.4013 Curaleaf shares plus $1 U.S. of cash.
The new offer represents a 28% premium to the Oct. 2 closing price of Aurora Cannabis’ stock on the Nasdaq exchange in New York.
Curaleaf previously made a bid for Edmonton, Alberta-based Aurora Cannabis of $4 U.S. per ACB share.
That previous offer included 0.3463 of a Curaleaf subordinate voting share plus $0.75 U.S. in cash, based on Aurora’s closing share price on Aug. 10.
In a statement, Curaleaf said it is raising its bid to demonstrate that it is negotiating in good faith and that it’s in shareholders’ interest to combine the cannabis businesses.
Aurora Cannabis has urged its stockholders to reject Curaleaf’s hostile takeover bid, saying it undervalues Aurora’s business and is not in the best interests of the company.
ACB stock has declined 94% in the past five years to trade at $4.46 U.S. per share.
