Green Growth has filed its Offer to Purchase and Circular and related documents with the applicable securities regulatory authorities in Canada and the United States and will formally commence its offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Aphria on Wednesday, January 23, 2019.
The company also announced that it has entered into a commitment letter with All Js Greenspace, pursuant to which the investor has agreed, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the commitment letter, to subscribe for and purchase up to $150 million of Green Growth shares as a backstop to the company's previously announced intention to complete a $300 million equity financing in connection with the completion of the offer.
"We are pleased to officially launch our bid for Aphria. This is an exciting opportunity for shareholders of both Green Growth and Aphria to build value and create the preeminent cannabis operator in North America," said Peter Horvath, CEO of Green Growth. "The combination of Aphria's Canadian supply and wholesale agreements with Green Growth's vertically integrated operations and rapidly growing retail footprint in the United States best positions us to capitalize on the massive growth opportunities in North America and beyond. I encourage Aphria shareholders to tender their shares to our offer."
Aphria response
Aphria advises its shareholders to take no action on the offer until Aphria's Board of Directors has made a formal recommendation to shareholders. Having received the offer, the independent committee of Aphria directors will consider it with its advisors before making a formal recommendation to Aphria's Board of Directors.
Irwin Simon, Aphria's independent Board Chair, said, "Aphria is a market leader and has a tremendous opportunity to create substantial value for shareholders. Any offer would necessarily need to be evaluated against the current and future value of our current strategic plan. We are also determined to protect Aphria shareholders from opportunistic offers that fail to reflect the substantial value and growth prospects we have built at Aphria. We will evaluate GGB's offer in this spirit."
For more information:
www.greengrowthbrands.com
www.aphria.ca