Aphria (company)


Aphria Inc. is a Canadian cannabis company. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, and has a market capitalization of $1.2 billion, as of January 2020, making it one of the largest cannabis companies in the world.

History

Aphria was founded in 2014 by Cole Cacciavillani and John Cervini, who were Leamington greenhouse operators. Its CEO for its formative years was Vic Neufeld, formerly the CEO of Jamieson Laboratories, a Canadian vitamin company. It was originally listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange. It graduated from the Toronto Venture Exchange to the Toronto Stock Exchange in March 2017, and joined the S&P/TSX Composite Index in December 2017.
In 2014, Aphria was granted a license to produce and sell medical cannabis by Health Canada. Its first wholesale shipments were in April 2015. Also in April 2015, it announced it would double the size of its greenhouse.
In April 2017, Aphria announced a US expansion strategy. There was some concern that Aphria might be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange or face other sanctions, because of the uncertain legal status of cannabis in the US. In February 2019, Aphria liquidated all interests in Liberty Health Sciences, Inc.
In December 2017, Aphria announced that Shoppers Drug Mart, a Canadian pharmacy, would sell its production online.
In January 2018, Aphria agreed to take over Broken Coast Cannabis, a Vancouver Island cannabis producer, for $230 million in cash and stock. Also in January 2018, Aphria agreed to purchase Nuuvera, a Brampton-based cannabis company, for $826 million. Nuuvera was acquired in part due to its market position internationally, especially in Germany and Italy. When the deal closed in March 2018, it was valued at only $425 million, due to the lower value of Aphria's stock and the reduction of the cash offer of the deal. There was some controversy due to the undisclosed ownership stake of several Aphria insiders in Nuuvera, which they did not disclose.
In May 2018, Aphria reached a deal with Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits for that company to distribute Aphria's recreational cannabis products in Canada. In July 2018, Aphria announced it would acquire a collection South American cannabis companies for about $200 million in a deal with Scythian Biosciences, a closely related company sometimes described as an acquisition arm of Aphria.
In December 2018, short-seller, Quintessential Capital Management, questioned Aphria's foreign Latin American acquisitions. The company denied all allegations. As a result of the allegations, a lower share price allowed Green Growth Brands, an American cannabis retailer, to launch a C$2.8 billion takeover bid that Aphria rejected as inadequate. On April 25, 2019, Aphria announced the end of Green Growth Brands' unsuccessful take over bid.
Aphria nominated Simon D. Irwin, previously of The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., as Chair of the Board of Directors and interim CEO in December 2018. The company voluntarily delisted its stocks from the New York Stock Exchange in May 2020, in favour of listing them on NASDAQ. In 2020, its stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in favor of solely listing shares on NASDAQ.

Operations

Aphria's main campus, called Aphria One, received license approval from Health Canada in March 2019 to operate a 1,100,000 square foot greenhouse to produce cannabis in Leamington, Ontario capable of producing 110,000 kg of cannabis annually with a focus on process automation.
The company is constructing another greenhouse in the Leamington area, Aphria Diamond, in partnership with Double Diamond, a greenhouse operator, estimated to produce an additional 120,000 kg of cannabis annually when completed.
Aphria owns Broken Coast Cannabis Inc., licensed to produce 4,500 kg of cannabis annually.
Aphria moved into the German medical cannabis market when its German subsidiary, Aphria Deutschland GmbH, received 4 of the 9 domestic cultivation licenses issued from the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices in April 2019.