Curaleaf Holdings, Inc on Tuesday sent a letter to Aurora Cannabis Inc. shareholders urging them to accept its bid to take over the company. In the letter, Curaleaf CEO and Chairman Boris Jordan said Aurora shareholders “have an important choice to make about the future” of their investment. 

“Accept a 45% premium and become an owner of the world’s leading cannabis company with strong growth prospects. Or remain invested in a standalone business stuck in a multi-year turnaround plan whose own management has guided revenue and adjusted EBITDA lower next year.” — Jordan in the letter 

In a statement, Jordan described Aurora as “a shrinking business that is burning cash and getting less profitable by the day.”    

Curaleaf announced its hostile takeover bid of the Canadian company in August. The offer to shareholders would see the Curaleaf purchase all of Aurora’s issued and outstanding shares at $4 per Aurora Cannabis share, which Curaleaf said is a 45% premium to Aurora’s 30-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) and a 110% to Aurora’s 30-day VWAP excluding balance sheet cash. 

Earlier this month, Aurora urged its shareholders to reject the proposal, saying it is debt-free and currently holds CA$149 million in cash, while Curaleaf has debts exceeding CA$1 billion.  

In the letter to Aurora shareholders, Jordan said combining the two businesses “delivers immediate value while allowing shareholders to participate in the future upside of the largest, most diversified global cannabis platform” and that a combined company “would create the global cannabis leader with operations across 17 countries, more than US$1.5 billion of last twelve-month revenue, nearly US$350 million of adjusted EBITDA and at least US$40 million of expected annual cost synergies.”    

In a September 2 statement, Miguel Martin, executive chairman and CEO of Aurora, called the would-be transaction as “harmful to Aurora shareholders as the hostile bid is inadequate.” 

“Shareholders of Aurora should understand plainly: Curaleaf is not offering you fair value for your shares, and your cash, your rights and your future upside are at stake,” Martin said in the statement. “Curaleaf is attempting to use Aurora shareholders’ own cash to help finance this bid, acquire Aurora’s assets at a discount and shift material risks onto our shareholders. The Board strongly and unanimously recommends that shareholders reject the offer, by taking no action and do not tender their shares. Aurora has been built for the long-term and staying with our Company is the right decision.”   

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The multistate cannabis operator (MSO) Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (TSX: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF) announced Tuesday that it plans to launch a hostile takeover bid of Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NASDAQ: ACB) (TSX: ACB), a Canada-based global cannabis company.

The offer to purchase all of the company’s issued and outstanding shares includes cash and Curaleaf stock valued at $4 per Aurora Cannabis share, which Curaleaf noted is a 45% premium to Aurora’s 30-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) and a 110% to Aurora’s 30-day VWAP excluding balance sheet cash.

“We believe this combination represents a win-win for Curaleaf and Aurora shareholders,” said Boris Jordan, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Curaleaf. “We are offering Aurora shareholders a unique opportunity to participate in a more highly diversified global platform and increase their exposure to U.S. regulatory tailwinds.”

Jordan said in the release that Curaleaf first approached Aurora on June 23, 2026, but that the company decided to make its intentions public after Aurora “refused to meaningfully engage.”

Meanwhile, Aurora Cannabis Inc. acknowledged the unsolicited takeover bid on Tuesday and confirmed the company had received letters from Curaleaf outlining plans for the takeover.

Aurora also contested the claims by Curaleaf that its management had refused to engage — “Aurora’s lead independent director did correspond with Curaleaf’s CEO, including as recently as July 24, 2026, noting that Aurora was focused on continuing to execute on its business plan over the short to medium term, and did not discourage an ongoing dialogue between the parties going forward,” the company said in its own press release on Tuesday.

“The Board intends to form a special committee of independent directors to consider the Proposal, with a view to determining the course of action that is in the best interests of the Company and all stakeholders,” the company said.

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The UK’s medical cannabis industry is now the second largest in Europe, second only to Germany, thanks to consistent and sustained growth over the last seven years.

While this has seen thousands of new patients gain access to medical cannabis, it still represents just a fraction of the addressable market in the UK.

According to Prohibition Partners, the UK’s current patient count (estimated at between 50k -60k) represents less than 10% of the total medical market, compared to Germany’s 65.4%.

This chasm between active patients and those who could potentially benefit from medical cannabis treatment is in large part due to glaring gaps in education among medical professionals, hindering both medical cannabis acceptance and prescription numbers since it was legalised in 2018.

Now, the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society (MCCS) and Curaleaf Laboratories have formed a new partnership aimed at addressing this critical knowledge gap.

Education gap

Jonathan Hodgson, UK Managing Director of Curaleaf International, believes the company’s longstanding involvement and proven expertise in unlicensed medicines provide the perfect foundation for clinician training.

“A lot of the staff who have been involved since the original specials and unlicensed medicines route are still here, which gives us an advantage from a quality and a regulatory perspective,’ he said.

“We’ve helped patients and clinicians alike address unmet clinical needs through unlicensed medicines for a long time. While the adoption of medical cannabis is only in its infancy, we want to help widen access to this option.”

Curaleaf’s strategy has placed clinician engagement at its core, reflecting the central role doctors play in ensuring appropriate use.

“Providing education has always been hugely important to us,’ Hodgson continued.

“In order for us as a medical community to adequately support patients, it is important that healthcare professionals are able to access much-needed education on cannabis-based medicines so they can help their patients through guiding access or prescribing directly.”

Industry takes the lead

Curaleaf already runs workshops, in-practice support and tailored educational programmes for private providers, including clinics not yet prescribing cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs).

Its in-house training covers Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration, insurance, dosing and formulary advice, and prescription support. It also engages directly with clinicians through events such as the British Pain Society’s annual conference.

Through the new partnership, Curaleaf will support the MCCS in delivering CPD-accredited education programmes and serve as a central source of information for prescribers.

Professor Mike Barnes, Chair of the MCCS, welcomed the collaboration: “The Society is very grateful to have the support of Curaleaf Laboratories.

“We believe the shared values and vision of the team will enable us to continue our work empowering professionals with evidence-based CPD-accredited cannabis education, and we look forward to working together with the ultimate goal of enabling more patients to benefit from these therapies.”

Hodgson added: “Our partnership with MCCS solidifies our commitment to providing further education to prescribers and the wider HCP network in the UK. We have already made big waves in HCP education, and we look forward to further improving our programme with the help of the expertise of the MCCS.”

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