Aurora Cannabis' (ACB 1.45%) latest asset buy is in the books. The company announced on Thursday that its purchase of Reliva, a maker of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products, has closed.
The news comes just over a week after Aurora divulged that it and Reliva had agreed to the acquisition. The basic terms of the deal are that Aurora is to pay $40 million in common stock for Reliva, with potentially as much as $45 million more if the latter hits certain financial incentives across the following two years. Those additional monies, if earned, will be paid either in cash, stock, or a combination of the two.
A field of hemp, which provides the CBD for Reliva's products. Image source: Getty Images.
This is lightning-fast for the marijuana industry, in which acquisitions have often taken (and are taking) many months to close.
Since Reliva was a privately held company before being absorbed into Aurora, it did not make its finances public. According to an article on MarketWatch, it books $13 million to $14 million in revenue per year. Aurora did say that its new asset "is expected to be Adjusted EBITDA accretive to Aurora shareholders in fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021." No mention was made of Reliva's net profit or loss.
The impetus behind the marijuana company's purchase is to gain a major CBD asset based in the huge U.S. market (Aurora is headquartered in Canada). The company said Reliva's products are sold in more than 20,000 retail locations and online. It added that Reliva has contracts with a host of retailers in the U.S., including eight of the country's top 20 convenience store operators.
The news of the deal's closure helped lift Aurora shares on Thursday. In contrast to the declines of the major stock indexes, they increased by nearly 0.3% on the day.
