Bids, Banks, and Understanding The Definition of Hemp
In our latest Trade to Black, presented by Flowhub, hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell break down the latest twist in Curaleaf’s (TSX: CURA) hostile takeover bid for Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ: ACB), plus a fresh acquisition and a cannabis finance update.
Aurora’s board unanimously urged shareholders to reject Curaleaf’s hostile bid, filing a Directors’ Circular that calls the roughly $4-per-share offer inadequate and warns it significantly undervalues the company. Aurora points to its debt-free balance sheet and $149 million in cash against Curaleaf’s stated debt load, arguing shareholders would be handing over a stronger, growing global medical cannabis platform for shares carrying real financial and governance risk. Curaleaf chairman and CEO Boris Jordan countered that Aurora has never presented a counteroffer and highlighted its history of dilutive share sales. Dales and Varrell weigh both sides — including Aurora’s recent ATM sales and where any competing bidders might be — and they question some of the figures being thrown around. We also cover Cresco Labs’ (CSE: CL) (OTCQX: CRLBF) newly closed $50 million acquisition of PharmaCann Penn, adding nine Pennsylvania dispensaries and making Cresco the state’s number one medical marijuana retailer alongside its existing wholesale lead.
For this week’s Vantage Standard segment, Sasha Kalcheff-Korn, executive director of Realm of Caring, returns to tackle a question that sounds simple but isn’t: what actually is the legal and practical definition of hemp right now, following the ban’s delay to December 11 — and how disconnected that is from how consumers actually understand and use these products. She explains how Realm of Caring is connecting patients directly with district representatives, and how the group’s research registry, one of the largest real-world cannabinoid datasets in the country, is helping educate clinicians and lawmakers.
In the final segment, Terry Mendez, CEO of Safe Harbor Financial (NASDAQ: SHFS), returns to talk rescheduling and what he’s hearing directly from banks since his last appearance — covering 280E’s disappearance, opportunity zone implications, and why financial institutions are only now starting to take the space seriously. He also frames the Curaleaf–Aurora bid as the first of many, drawing a parallel to how alcohol consolidated after Prohibition through the rise of AB InBev.
A loaded episode covering M&A, banking, and regulatory clarity all in one show — tune in.
