You are reading this week’s edition of New Cannabis Ventures, a weekly magazine we have published since October 2015. The newsletter includes unique insight to help our readers stay ahead of the curve, as well as links to the most important news of the week. We no longer email them like we used to, but post this and all newsletters on our website here.
friends,
Canadian LP stocks have been quite strong this year. I’ll provide an update on the November action on Friday, but the NCV Canadian Cannabis LP Index ended today at 59.32, leaving the 13-stock index up 18.4% in 2025. Some readers may attribute the demonstration to Village Farms, but Village Farms is not on the NDAASQ index for that reason alone. Village Farms is on the NCV Global Cannabis Stock Index, which is down 11.1% year-to-date. It is also in MSOS, which is down 10.0% so far in 2025.
I’ve written very optimistically about some of the Canadian LPs over the past few years, and very negatively about others. Newsletter articles on Canadian LPs over the past eighteen months include:
It’s been a little over three months since Canadian LPs have been the focus of this newsletter, and I want to provide an update today as we head into the end of the year, with these stocks outperforming the hemp sector. At 420 Investor, I include 5 Canadian LPs in my 19-stock Focus List, including Canopy Growth, Cronos Group, Organigram, Tilray Brands, and Village Farms. These are all in the Global Cannabis Stock Index, along with Aurora Cannabis and SNDL. Here’s how they’ve performed since 8/8, the day before news of a possible US move broke:
Here are my current thoughts on each.
Canopy growth. it was unpleasant, but all that dilution fixed their balance sheet. I don’t see the stock, which is down 56.0% in 2025, as attractive, and I remain concerned about their US operations being held as an investment rather than as part of their operations (to maintain a NASDAQ listing).
Cronos Group. I’m not much of a fan of it, other than the huge cash and such a large majority ownership by Altria. That said, it makes up 6.7% of my model portfolio at 420 Investor, despite being the strongest LP of the five, up 23.0% year-to-date.
Organigram. I like the balance and the valuation seems about right. What matters is that their actions were strong. This week, the company announced a new CEO, who will take over in mid-January. I don’t know much about him, but he spent two decades at British American Tobacco, which owns a lot of OGI. The stock has pulled back a lot and is down 0.6% in 2025. I include it in my model portfolio at 11.9%.
Tilray Brands. I am not a fan of this company at all and they have zero involvement in the US state regulated cannabis market. I thought they were bullshitting the MedMen and I’m glad their investment was completely written off. The latest ban on hemp products, which will take effect next year, undermines the efforts they’ve been making with THC drinks. I really liked it when it was under $1 earlier this year, as I expressed here, but now I don’t care. The stock will reverse split after the close on Monday. I don’t have a problem with this at all, but many investors don’t like reverse splits. TLRY closed at $1.03 but announced a reverse split after the close. Compared to last year, it decreased by 21.8%.
Village farmers. I loved it earlier this year, and I loved it when they made their big move in May to divest themselves of their produce business. The stock is very much up (418.2% year-to-date in my opinion) and not widely followed by Wall Street. The company didn’t provide any guidance, but analysts’ estimates look really high. I think many are excited about their potential win in the Texas medical cannabis market, which is in the process of expanding from 3 licensed producers to 15, with news from VFF on 12/1. This Texas is excited about program changes and producer expansion, but I’m still not excited about the potential financial impact that could eat into cash and not be recognized on the income statement. Note that MSOS has acquired a position (in the summer ahead of news of a possible realignment). The ETF currently has 3.5 million shares, a position of 2.2 percent of the ETF, although it sold 2 percent of its holdings when it hit redemption last week.
I write a lot about Canadian LPs on Seeking Alpha, and you always can look at my articles more details there. This past weekend I upgraded my rating on Organigram from Hold to Buy and downgraded my rating on Village Farms from Sell to Strong Sell. Last week I upgraded Canopy Growth from Strong Sell to Hold after being very negative for quite some time. In late September, I downgraded Tilray Brands to Strong Sell. That one rallied sharply a few days later on their Q1 report, but failed. In mid-September, I initiated coverage of SNDL via selling. At 420 Investor, I include 5 Canadian LPs in my Focus List, including Canopy Growth, Cronos Group, Organigram, Tilray Brands, and Village Farms.
Canadian LPs are doing better than most other sectors. I’ve written positively about hemp REITs, and they seem like a better bet to me. I think investors should be careful with Canadian LPs as they are no longer as cheap as they used to be and have been buoyed by enthusiasm for MSOs since the potential realignment was announced in August, although the realignment will not affect them. I hope there are improvements in Canadian taxation, distribution and regulation, as these changes can help LPs. Until then, I suggest caution.
I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
Sincerely,
Alan:
New Cannabis Ventures publishes curated articles as well as exclusive news. Here is what we published last week.
Follow Alan for real-time updates X.com:. Share and discover industry news with like-minded people on the largest group of cannabis investors and entrepreneurs LinkedIn:.
Stay on top of the most important communications from public companies by watching what’s coming cannabis investor calendar.
Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as an online community founder 420 Investorthe first and still the largest due diligence platform focused on publicly traded stocks in the cannabis industry. With his extensive network in the cannabis community, Alan continues to find new ways to connect the industry and facilitate its sustainable growth. time New Cannabis Ventureshe is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before turning his attention to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst with more than two decades of research and portfolio management experience. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 Looking for Alphawhere he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and frequent source Media including the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan. Twitter: |: Facebook |: LinkedIn: |: El
Statistics Canada has released February retail sales for the country, with Cannabis sales are declining from January levels, down 7.9% from the previous month to C$440.5 million. The sequential decrease increased by 2.0% on a daily basis due to fewer days than in the previous month. January, originally reported at C$466.1 million, was revised higher to C$478.2 million. February sales rose 7.9% from a year ago, down 9.4% from last month, and 8.3% in May and 7.5% in June, but better than last year’s slowest growth rate since legalization -0.9% in September 2024 due to the BC strike. Total sales are expected to increase by 4.5% to C$5.39 billion in 2024 and by 4.1% to C$5.62 billion in 2025. So far in 2026, sales are up 8.6%.
An increase in the number of shops, as well as a fall in the prices of flowers that attract consumers from the illegal market, have boosted sales. In Ontario, the most populous province, sales fell 11.4% from January and 3% from a year ago. Alberta was down 10.2% from January, but up 1% from a year ago. British Columbia was up 3.7% from January and up 33% from a year ago, while Quebec was down 9.6% from January but up 30% from a year ago.
March sales data will be released on May 22.
Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as an online community founder 420 Investorthe first and still the largest due diligence platform focused on publicly traded stocks in the cannabis industry. With his extensive network in the cannabis community, Alan continues to find new ways to connect the industry and facilitate its sustainable growth. time New Cannabis Ventureshe is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before turning his attention to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst with more than two decades of research and portfolio management experience. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 Looking for Alphawhere he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and frequent source Media including the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan. Twitter: |: Facebook |: LinkedIn: |: El
Aurora Cannabis accelerates global medical cannabis leadership with proactive acquisition of Safari Flower, expanding EU GMP capabilities to serve growing high-margin international markets.
EDMONTON, AB, April 15, 2026. /PRNewswire/ – Aurora Cannabis Inc. (the “Company” or “Aurora”) (NASDAQ: ACB) (TSX: ACB), a leading global medical cannabis company based in Canada, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Safari Flower, an EU GMP certified cannabis developer and manufacturer. The aggregate consideration is valued at $26.5 million, subject to customary adjustments and including a $2 million cash payment contingent on the satisfaction of certain conditions (the “Deal”).
“The acquisition of Safari Flower is an important milestone for Aurora as we continue to make targeted investments in expanding our EU GMP capabilities to support the rapidly growing international medical cannabis market. The expanded supply chain will enable us to capture greater international market share while delivering superior quality and value to our most valued patients around the world,” said Miguel Martin, Aurora’s Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Strategic rationale
Safari Flower Company’s 59,000-square-foot, purpose-built EU GMP certified in-house processing and manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada will provide the company with increased capacity that closely aligns with its existing cultivation and manufacturing facilities.
The increased capacity will be used to supply EU GMP flower to Aurora’s key international markets, including Germany, Australia, Poland and the UK, and will support further market expansion.
This transaction is expected to result in a positive adjusted EBITDA contribution in fiscal year 2027, with additional benefits in fiscal year 2028 and beyond as these assets are optimized in the Company’s supply chain.
Aurora intends to leverage its plant science and operational expertise to drive operational efficiencies, improve crop yields and support high-margin commercialization in international markets.
Transaction details
Aurora, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, has indirectly purchased 100% of the shares of 9869247 Canada Limited (“Safari Flower Company”) for an aggregate consideration of $26.5 million, including a cash payment of $2 million subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions. As closing consideration, Aurora (i) issued to the selling stockholder 2,417,180 shares of common stock; and (ii) paid the selling stockholder $15 million in cash, subject to customary post-closing adjustments.
About Aurora
Aurora is a global leader in medical cannabis, dedicated to improving lives through scientific expertise, proven performance and a deep commitment to patient care. Aurora serves both medical and consumer markets in Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand with a strategic focus on high margin opportunities and a medical first approach. Aurora’s portfolio of trusted, leading brands includes Aurora®, MedReleaf®, Pedanios®, IndiMed™, San Raf®, Tasty’s® and Whistler Medical Marijuana Co.®. With world-class GMP-certified manufacturing facilities in Canada and Germany and a team of industry-leading professionals, Aurora continues to expand its global footprint and deliver consistent, high-quality cannabis products to open up the world to cannabis.
Learn more at www.auroramj.com and follow us on X and LinkedIn.
Aurora common stock trades on the NASDAQ and TSX exchanges under the symbol “ACB”.
New Cannabis Ventures’ NCV Newswire aims to gather high-quality content and information about leading cannabis companies to help our readers filter through the noise and stay on top of the most important cannabis business news. The NCV Newswire is edited by an editor and is not automated in any way. Got a secret news tip? Get in touch.
You are reading this week’s edition of New Cannabis Ventures, a weekly magazine we have published since October 2015. The newsletter includes unique insight to help our readers stay ahead of the curve, as well as links to the most important news of the week. We no longer email them like we used to, but post this and all newsletters on our website here.
friends,
Just before Christmas, this newsletter discussed how Vireo Growth is getting pretty big. At the end of January I profiled how Vireo Growth is expanding its business. This week’s newsletters include six articles we’ve run since April 2, and Vireo Growth is central to two of them. Vireo Growth is big and getting bigger, but few people seem to care.
I’m not writing this to tell readers to care. In fact, while I used to include the company on my Focus List at 420 Investor, I no longer do. Earlier this month I wrote an article for my subscribers about why I keep looking at things but not including stocks in my Focus List. Here is the summary.
I watch VREOF because it is now one of the largest MSOs by revenue, but it continues to fall short of joining the Global Hemp Stock Index due to its low trading volumes. Average daily trading volume over the past month was 251,000 shares, which is about $100,000 in daily trading value. This is well below peers. Perhaps more importantly, the current price of $0.45, which is down 26.6% year-to-date, is significantly lower than the price of $0.625 for the last large cap in 2024. Not only are the investors not winning, but VREOF hsa distributed a lot of shares to the sellers and they are also under water.
Maybe Vireo Growth shares will reward their owners, or maybe it will continue to do so. I think hemp stock investors and debt holders should be asking why no one is thinking of this yet. Scotts Miracle-Gro, which has been public since 1992 and has a market cap of $3.6 billion, picked up much of VREOF’s stock when it spun off Hawthorne. The 213 million shares are “at an implied price of $0.60” per share, although VREOF hasn’t traded at $0.60 since January. When the divestiture was announced in late January, Vireo Growth closed at $0.5553.
So a large MSO that has reshuffled its management, is now in multiple markets, and has executed its plan to get bigger with several acquisitions, is still not responding to the cannabis investment community. I wish them the best.
Sincerely,
Alan:
New Cannabis Ventures publishes curated articles as well as exclusive news. Here is what we have published in the last 2 weeks.
Follow Alan for real-time updates X.com:. Share and discover industry news with like-minded people on the largest group of cannabis investors and entrepreneurs LinkedIn:.
Stay on top of the most important communications from public companies by watching what’s coming cannabis investor calendar.
Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as an online community founder 420 Investorthe first and still the largest due diligence platform focused on publicly traded stocks in the cannabis industry. With his extensive network in the cannabis community, Alan continues to find new ways to connect the industry and facilitate its sustainable growth. time New Cannabis Ventureshe is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before turning his attention to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst with more than two decades of research and portfolio management experience. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 Looking for Alphawhere he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and frequent source Media including the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan. Twitter: |: Facebook |: LinkedIn: |: El
