Statistics Canada released September retail sales for the country, with Cannabis sales are on the rise from August levels, down 1.4% to C$475.0 million. This sequential decline increased on a daily basis due to fewer days compared to the previous month. August, originally reported at C$498.7 million, was revised slightly higher to C$503.1 million. Sales rose 6.6% in September from a year earlier, up from 8.3% in May and 7.5% in June. This was also below the 20.3% growth rate in August 2023 and above the previous lowest annual growth since the start of legalization in September 2024 of -0.9%, and it was significantly down from the 9.1% growth in December. In August, the record growth was only 1.8% higher than the index of the previous year. Total sales grew by 4.5% to C$5.39 billion in 2024 and 4.9% year-to-date in 2025.
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 5.0% from August and less than 1% from a year ago. Alberta was down 5.5% from August and 4% from a year ago. British Columbia was down 6.0% from August as it grew 1% a year ago, while Quebec was down 5.2% from August and up 48% from a year ago.
October sales data will be released on December 19.
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.
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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
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,
Hemp stocks peaked in early 2021 after a rally in 2020, but have been on a downward trend since then. That 2020 rally was pretty big from the depths of the post-pandemic lows, but the Global Hemp Stock Index is up just 5.2% that year overall. Since then, it has fallen from 44.39 on 12/31/20 to 5.26 currently, a decline of 88.2%. The index was at 100 as of 12/31/12 and has fallen over 94% since then. Only in 2026, the decline was 20.2% year-on-year. What a terrible storm this has been.
I wrote about 280E tax at the end of 2022, naming its potential elimination as one of them two great cannabis catalysts potentially, and another could be exiting the OTC for US hemp companies. Although none of these have happened, the 280E taxation could be abolished if the hemp reclassification takes place. The president issued a decree, but there is no timetable.
These stocks have risen over the past year, but they have fallen significantly since the 2024 election. Hemp stocks certainly look cheap by most standards, but for some, the risk remains that their balance sheets will be left in a very bad shape. A number of companies have already surrendered to debt holders, such as 4Front, Ayr Wellness, Cannabist, Gold Flora, MedMen, Schwazze and Tilt Holdings, but others will have to refinance their debt. I have called Curaleaf out on their massive debt and they have recently extended some of it, although the debt level remains quite high. There are other MSOs that are also facing challenges with their debt.
280E taxation remains a big issue for US hemp operators, but it’s not really a problem for Canadian LPs operating in Canada or around the world. Not only are they not subject to 280E taxation, they trade on NASDAQ and not OTC. However, these stocks are also in a bear market. My model portfolio of 420 Investor currently has 42.8% exposure to Canadian LPs and only 10.3% exposure to MSOs. The Global Hemp Stock Index, recently recalculated on 3/31, currently has 25.8% exposure to MSOs and 29.1% exposure to Canadian LPs.
What I like about Canadian LPs is that they have potential exposure in Europe and Australia, as Canada is a fairly mature market. Canada, which does not have a 280E tax, has a very high tax on cultivation. Maybe that will change. In any case, that market has started to consolidate, with acquisitions and license cuts. However, there are many outstanding licenses (1,002, including 110 pending removal due to suspension, cancellation or expiration). These stocks trade at or below tangible book value. Some of them are subject to 280E end of taxation through their investments.
Here’s the past half-year’s action in the seven Canadian LPs currently in the Global Hemp Stock Index:
All have fallen and two have lost more than half their value. During this period, MSOS is down 23.2%, and the Global Cannabis Stock Index is down 31.5%.
US hemp stocks have been linked to potential realignments and possible elimination of 280E taxation, but those may not happen. Cannabis-backed companies would benefit from helping their clients, but most Canadian LPs are not subject to the US. Hopefully this bear market will end soon. Happy Easter and Passover everyone!
Sincerely,
Alan:
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by the Paul E. Saperstein Co.
Michigan Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) Article 9 Sale
On April 7, Monster Holdings Group’s equipment will be auctioned at the Jackson County Circuit Court in Jackson, Michigan at 9:00 a.m. ET. All applications must be submitted online. Learn more Article 9 of the sale of all assets of this mining company.
Interested parties may contact Paul Cotto at 617-227-6553 or email pcotto@pesco.com:.
New Cannabis Ventures publishes curated articles as well as exclusive news. Here is what we have published in the last 3 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
