🤝 Curaleaf Intends to Launch Take-Over Bid for Aurora Cannabis
Senate Passes the CR 61-32. Uncle Arnie’s Raises Additional $2M Extension of Series A. NFP Buys Frontier Risk’s Cannabis Book. Southern Bloom Takes Red White & Bloom’s Florida Operations.
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🌿 Industry
Senate Passes the CR 61-32. The Senate voted 61-32 over the weekend to pass the stopgap, carrying the provision that pushes federal recriminalization of most hemp THC products from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11. — Louisville Business First
A bipartisan amendment at the center of the funding fight was tabled — leaving the one-month delay in place rather than a longer or permanent fix
The House-passed CR still contains no hemp language, so the provision must survive the House before it reaches the President
35 Attorneys General Tell Congress to Keep Hemp THC Ban Put. The chief legal officers from 34 states and one U.S. territory sent a letter to congressional leaders directing them not to delay the ban. — Cannabis Business Times
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita co-led a bipartisan coalition of 34 state attorneys general and one territorial attorney general in writing a letter on Aug. 4 that directed U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to reject any efforts that would disrupt the Nov. 12, 2026, implementation of the ban
The chief legal officers went on to explain how the 2018 Farm Bill unintentionally legalized downstream hemp products that contain intoxicating amounts of cannabinoids as long as those cannabinoids came from a plant that contained less than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight
Germany’s Cannabis Market Crosses €1.15B as the Reimbursement Era Ends. New data puts Germany above €1.15B just as the shift away from insurance reimbursement resets who wins on price, supply reliability and EU-GMP capacity — the reason behind why Curaleaf is buying into Aurora, and the exact pressure showing up in Aurora’s Canadian medical line. — Business of Cannabis
Alabama May Opt Out of Federal Rescheduling. The Alabama Department of Public Health is weighing whether to decline to follow a federal move to Schedule III, which would leave the state’s medical program out of step with any federal reclassification. The public comment period closed Aug. 5, with a final decision to follow. — MJBizDaily
💵 Deals
Curaleaf intends to make an offer for Aurora Cannabis at $4.00 per share. Curaleaf announced Aug. 11 that it intends to launch an unsolicited take-over bid for all of Aurora’s outstanding shares, taking the proposal directly to shareholders after two private approaches — a June 23 indication of interest and a July 7 letter of intent — failed to produce substantive discussions. Consideration is 0.3463 Curaleaf subordinate voting shares plus $0.75 cash per Aurora share: a 45% premium to Aurora’s 30-day VWAP of $2.75, and a 110% premium excluding balance sheet cash. Curaleaf frames the combination as a ~$3B market cap global platform pairing Aurora’s EU-GMP cultivation and international medical franchise with Curaleaf’s distribution across Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Aurora shares rose 20.6% in Tuesday afternoon trading. The Wall Street Journal sizes the bid at ~$272M; Curaleaf says the combined platform would carry more than $1.5B of revenue
Aurora responded the same day: the board will form a special committee of independent directors to review the proposal alongside other strategic alternatives, no decision has been made, and shareholders need take no action
Aurora’s counter-frame is the $5.00 per share cap embedded in the consideration — below where its shares traded as recently as Dec. 18, 2025
The “ex-cash” premium math is the whole argument: Aurora closed its June quarter with $149.1M of cash and short-term investments and no debt, so a large share of the headline offer is Aurora’s own balance sheet coming back to its holders in paper
The stock-heavy offer with a collar cap is what an acquirer does when it wants scale it cannot fund with cash — Curaleaf ended Q2 with $107M. Expect the fight to be about the cap and the exchange ratio, not strategic logic
Uncle Arnie’s Raises Additional $2M Extension of Series A. The new funding is an extension of Uncle Arnie’s $7.5M Series A last August. It represents investor confidence in the company’s strategy of operating in both the recreational dispensary channel with cannabis beverages and traditional beverage alcohol retailers with hemp drinks. Uncle Arnie’s new funding will support the brand’s expansion into New York State’s recreational channel as well as existing partners in both adult-use marijuana and intoxicating hemp. The brand launched its first hemp-derived THC multiserve product, Social Spirit, last month at Spec’s in Texas. Available in two varieties (Tropical Haze and Lemon Lime), each 750ml bottle contains 166mg of THC (10 mg per serving).
Verdant Capital Partners Completes Acquisition of Native Roots Retail Operations. Verdant Capital Partners successfully closed its acquisition of 15 Native Roots retail dispensaries in Colorado following receipt of all required regulatory approvals. Effective July 31, Verdant has assumed ownership and operation of the acquired locations. With its first retail operating platform now established, Verdant intends to continue expanding through the acquisition of leading cannabis retail businesses in regulated markets while applying the same disciplined operating approach focused on customer experience, operational excellence, and long-term value creation.
NFP acquires Frontier Risk Group’s cannabis insurance business. The Aon-owned P&C broker and benefits consultant picked up Frontier Risk’s retail cannabis book, folding it into NFP’s Life Sciences practice under Scott Foster. Frontier Risk SVP Eric Schneider joins NFP with the same title. Frontier Risk itself will refocus on Strata Specialty, its multi-program manager for critical-infrastructure and other emergent-category risk transfer.
Southern Bloom Botanicals acquires Red White & Bloom’s entire Florida cannabis operation. The transaction closed July 14 with Florida OMMU authorization of the change of control over Red White & Bloom’s licensed Florida operations.
High Tide closes $40M of Senior Secured Credit Facilities. The facilities materially increase available capital and lower High Tide’s cost of debt, landing the same week as a record quarter.
TerrAscend completes an oversubscribed $21.8M convertible debt financing. The raise extends convertible maturities to 2031 at a lower interest rate. TerrAscend also signed an agreement during the quarter to acquire its fifth New Jersey dispensary.
📄 Company Updates / Earnings
Curaleaf Q2: $340M revenue, +10% YoY; adj. EBITDA $70M (20.6%). Domestic grew 7% and International 26% (to $51M). Gross margin 50% (+70 bps), Net Income from continuing operations $12.5M, cash $107M.
Green Thumb Q2: $306.7M revenue, +4.6% YoY; normalized EBITDA $84.3M (27.5%). GAAP Net Income $4.9M ($0.02/share), cash flow from operations $29M, and $283.6M of cash.
Trulieve Q2: $271M revenue, 63% gross margin. Medical-only revenue rose 4% sequentially to $222M.
Verano Q2: $218M revenue, +8% YoY and +5% sequentially; adj. EBITDA $51.2M. Third consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth, though margins remain under pressure.
Cresco Labs Q2: $173M revenue; $40M adj. EBITDA; $15M net income. Gross profit $87M, SG&A $63M or 36.5% of revenue.
TerrAscend Q2: $67.1M revenue; 54.0% gross margin; adj. EBITDA $17.7M (26.3%). $42.0M in cash. Jason Wild: the company is “taking the appropriate steps to prepare for an uplisting to a major U.S. exchange.”
Aurora Cannabis FQ1’27: net revenue C$67.6M, down 9%; $149.1M cash and no debt. International medical rose 17% to $43.3M on German patient demand, while Canadian medical fell (25%) to $20.7M after the federal reimbursement program cut rates ~30% effective April 1. Adjusted gross margin before FV adjustments was 58% versus 64%.
Organigram FQ3’26: gross revenue $145.1M (+32%), net revenue $105.8M (+49%), adj. EBITDA $13.4M (+136%). Reported Aug. 11, with the Sanity Group acquisition driving the step-change in scale and the German contribution.
High Tide Q2: record revenue $179.3M and adj. EBITDA $13.9M. Positive free cash flow and net income, with German medical subsidiary Remexian Pharma contributing.
RYTHM Q2: $23.0M revenue from continuing operations; $6.4M adj. EBITDA; $1.2M net income.
ACT LAB Expands National Laboratory Network To New Jersey. The expansion follows the acquisition of Sriven Labs (SV Labs – NJ), a licensed cannabis testing laboratory serving New Jersey’s regulated cannabis market. Over the past year, the company expanded its Pennsylvania operations with a second laboratory in Harrisburg, relocated and expanded its Ohio laboratory to Columbus to improve statewide service and turnaround times, and completed an expansion of its Illinois laboratory to increase testing capacity for operators.
Arcana Collective Launches Colorado Nursery Sciences, Bringing Biosecurity, Diverse Genetics and Cost Savings To Colorado Cultivators. The facility has secured its first customer, National Green Source LLC (NGS), a woman-owned, vertically integrated cannabis operator based in Pueblo, Colorado, marking the formal launch of Arcana’s nursery operations in the state. Through Arcana, Colorado Nursery Sciences will gain access to hundreds of unique phenotypes developed and verified at Ghost Town, Arcana’s state-of-the-art nursery and research campus in Shelton, Washington. Selected genetics are being supplied to NGS as verified, production-ready rooted clones, with Arcana breeders overseeing propagation standards and genetic integrity on-site. The model addresses one of the most persistent inefficiencies in licensed cannabis cultivation. Conventional operators often dedicate substantial facility space and labor to breeding, maintaining mother plants, and cutting and rooting clones. That process can add weeks to production timelines while consuming up to 25% of a facility’s usable canopy capacity. By supplying verified clones, Colorado Nursery Sciences allows cultivators to redirect labor, time and square footage toward revenue-generating production.
Green Flower Launches New Cannabis Career Certificate Programs for UNLV. Featuring more than 50 cannabis industry leaders and subject matter experts, these new programs offer industry-aligned curricula, accessible pricing, and robust career support through Green Flower’s Cannabis Career Resource Center.
🏬 Retail
Speakeasy Dispensary Opens Stanford, KY Dispensary.
Green Thumb opens its 23rd Florida location, RISE Dispensary Port Charlotte.
Standard Wellness opens The Forest in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
🌱 Product
Jaunty Launches a New Line of Solventless Hash Gummies, Reformulated for a Full-Spectrum Experience. New edibles line combines naturally occurring terpenes, THC and minor cannabinoids to deliver an entourage of desirable effects; available in six fruit-forward flavors. The Hash Gummies are one of several innovative new drops for Jaunty in 2026, a year that so far has also featured a partnership with True Terpenes to launch the state’s first Liquid Diamonds vape line powered by Headstash, and Hash Hole Pre-rolls, curated premium indoor flower joints infused with solventless rosin. Jaunty vape products also make up three of the top five best-selling items in their category in New York, according to the latest Headset data.
Tilray launches the Mollo Lite Blackberry Lemon Seltzer multi-pack. A 2.5mg THC light seltzer in a 4-pack.
Curaleaf rolls out Dark Heart ultra-premium flower across 11 states. Management flagged strong consumer reception.
🧔 People
Verano Challenges Its New Jersey Cannabis Industry Labor Peace Agreement. New Jersey set the rule in 2018 that cannabis licensees in the state must maintain a labor peace agreement with a union. However, a federal judge ruled in May in a suit filed by Curaleaf that the agreements are preempted by federal law. Referencing the Curaleaf decision, Verano is now asking a judge to declare that the company cannot have its license revoked, suspended, or denied renewal because of its labor peace agreement, and that its agreement should be considered void.
Curaleaf appoints Torsten Greif and Faith Charles to its board. Greif is co-founder and managing director of Four 20 Pharma, Curaleaf’s German subsidiary; Charles is a partner at Thompson Hine LLP.
🎙️ Interviews
Innovating Cannabis — “Cannabis Rescheduling, Interstate Commerce and the Next Wave of Market Growth” with Hirsh Jain