Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. responded on October 19, 2026, to Aurora Cannabis Inc.'s rejection of its enhanced proposal. In an 8-K filing, Curaleaf attached a press release in which Chairman and CEO Boris Jordan criticized Aurora’s board for what he described as a failure to act in shareholders' best interests. Jordan argued that the board is obstructing Curaleaf while granting diligence access to unnamed third parties.
The press release details a dispute over the terms of Curaleaf's hostile bid. Curaleaf contends that its enhanced offer represents an 86% premium to Aurora's unaffected 30-day volume-weighted average share price. The company notes that when factoring in Aurora's cash and equivalents, the premium rises to 217% on an ex-cash basis.
Curaleaf also challenged Aurora’s financial advisor, Fort Capital, citing a conflict of interest. According to the filing, Fort Capital’s advisory fees are contingent on the company arriving at an alternative transaction or circumstances where no transaction is completed at all. Curaleaf highlighted that Fort Capital did not provide supporting analysis for its conclusion that the offer is inadequate.
The company further argued that Aurora’s own financial metrics contradict its rejection of the bid. Curaleaf noted that Aurora’s implied transaction multiple of 14.3x 2026 Adjusted EBITDA is higher than Curaleaf’s multiple of 13.7x. Additionally, Curaleaf pointed out that Aurora sold shares under its ATM program in July 2026 for as low as $2.60 per share, questioning how the current offer of $5.00 could be considered too low.
Curaleaf reiterated that its bid is subject to market-standard conditions and that the only barrier to a deal is Aurora’s refusal to engage in a constructive diligence process. The company stated it remains ready to engage immediately.
