Curaleaf Aims to Win Over Big Investors with Sweetened $324.2M Offer for Aurora Cannabis -- Interview

Dow Jones2026/10/05 17:39

By Adriano Marchese Curaleaf Holding's sweetened offer for Aurora Cannabis is aimed at winning over institutional investors and forcing the target company into negotiations. Curaleaf Chairman and Chief Executive Boris Jordan said the raised offer, made earlier Monday, was also designed to preempt competing bids from being entertained, while aligning with a wave of institutional investors who he said are steadily accumulating shares of Aurora since Curaleaf first made its offer in August. "We are constantly in conversations with institutions, and a lot of those institutions basically told us they would support a bid that would be around this level," Jordan said in an interview. The new offer, for $5 a share, values Aurora at $324.2 million, and ups its earlier offer by about 25%. Even without access to Aurora's books, Jordan said the Curaleaf offer represents a bid to flush out rival suitors and force management to the table. "Since we've heard that they're talking to other people, we decided to preempt any other bids by increasing our offer," Jordan said. "So we are basically forcing the competition, if they're there, to really put up or shut up." Aurora Cannabis didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Aurora's shares traded 16% higher Monday to 6.45 Canadian dollars ($4.53). Jordan said he has met with some new Aurora investors in recent weeks to make his case. "I can tell you, unanimously, every one of them thinks this deal makes a huge amount of sense," he said. The new proposal represents an 86% premium over Aurora's unaffected August share price. Curaleaf said that its plan is to establish a dominant global operator with over $1.5 billion in annual revenue spanning 17 countries. The new offer also increases the maximum consideration per Aurora share to $6 from a previous $5. In September, Aurora urged its shareholders to reject a previous unsolicited hostile takeover bid from Curaleaf valued at $272 million, saying the offer is inadequate and undervalues parts of its business. At the time, Auror

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By Adriano Marchese

Curaleaf Holding's sweetened offer for Aurora Cannabis is aimed at winning over institutional investors and forcing the target company into negotiations.

Curaleaf Chairman and Chief Executive Boris Jordan said the raised offer, made earlier Monday, was also designed to preempt competing bids from being entertained, while aligning with a wave of institutional investors who he said are steadily accumulating shares of Aurora since Curaleaf first made its offer in August.

"We are constantly in conversations with institutions, and a lot of those institutions basically told us they would support a bid that would be around this level," Jordan said in an interview.

The new offer, for $5 a share, values Aurora at $324.2 million, and ups its earlier offer by about 25%. Even without access to Aurora's books, Jordan said the Curaleaf offer represents a bid to flush out rival suitors and force management to the table.

"Since we've heard that they're talking to other people, we decided to preempt any other bids by increasing our offer," Jordan said. "So we are basically forcing the competition, if they're there, to really put up or shut up."

Aurora Cannabis didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Aurora's shares traded 16% higher Monday to 6.45 Canadian dollars ($4.53).

Jordan said he has met with some new Aurora investors in recent weeks to make his case. "I can tell you, unanimously, every one of them thinks this deal makes a huge amount of sense," he said.

The new proposal represents an 86% premium over Aurora's unaffected August share price. Curaleaf said that its plan is to establish a dominant global operator with over $1.5 billion in annual revenue spanning 17 countries.

The new offer also increases the maximum consideration per Aurora share to $6 from a previous $5.

In September, Aurora urged its shareholders to reject a previous unsolicited hostile takeover bid from Curaleaf valued at $272 million, saying the offer is inadequate and undervalues parts of its business.

At the time, Aurora's Chief Executive Miguel Martin said that the cannabis company's standalone strategy to expand its medical cannabis business internationally should start to bear fruit in the next six months.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 05, 2026 13:39 ET (17:39 GMT)

Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

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