RE:ACB ReviewIt still secured 216 millions that they would have to pay back in March. Strangely, the article is silent about it. The conversion at a lower price for ~70 millions shares is not only a good news, it is a great news. Calling this a desperate measure is misleading. This is why I am back in. What would have been another solution? I can't see another one better. The conversion will secure money for many months until Peltz can make a deal with a partner with money.
The article doesn't talk that the market is there, the selling places are not yet. It will take longer than anticipated and all the companies will have to adjust to the slower pace. It is not because the construction is halted for now that there is no activity. It was a good move to face the reality. This article is a scarecrow. I agree there will be pressure in the short term. If Aurora can make a deal that would bring cash, the title could easily double. Another important point is that every where a store is, the black market is down. As a CEO said, Ontario could easily open 50 stores a month for a year with its 14 millions population. I don't expect any miracle soon but money from a partner would be amazing.
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Last Thursday, Aurora released its financial report for the first quarter of 2020.
With lower than expected revenues, the Edmonton based company announced that construction on Aurora Sun, their Medicine Hat facility, would be deferred “for the foreseeable future.”
“I think they were going at a very, very high speed and working lots of overtime. And I think they are basically scaling back,” said Clugston. “It maybe came across that they were shutting right down, no construction, and you wouldn’t see anybody on site. That’s kind of how I visualized it. But that’s not the truth.”
Clugston says that after the meeting with the Aurora team, he feels “much better” about the future of the facility and the jobs that were promised to come along with it.
“Everybody was going ‘wow they choose us over everybody else.’ The 400 jobs, then the 500 jobs, then I think I’m allowed to say they still intend to hire about 750 people when they fully commission the building. That’s still a massive number of people,” he said.
He also added that the two groups also spoke about using Bill 7, which would allow the city to give Aurora property tax breaks.
Last Wednesday, it was announced that cannabis would no longer be part of agricultural tax exemptions.
While Clugston says that the announcement and Aurora slowing construction is a coincidence, the city may be willing to help
“We could use the Bill 7 option, for new industry to help and get them off the ground perhaps. But that’s in the very, very early stages. I’m not even saying we’re doing that,” he continued. “They haven’t officially requested one yet. But they are very, very well aware of it.”
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Older article from August about Alberta with 4 millions in population. Ontario and Quebec will eventually follow them.
Alberta could host 500 cannabis stores within two years, says an official with the provincial regulator that’s been busier than any in Canada approving the outlets.
One year past the end of cannabis prohibition, Calgary already has more cannabis stores — 66 — than any other city in Canada, with Edmonton second at 48.
Another 154 locations have been approved in Calgary.
And Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis has green-lighted 306 retail outlets across the province, a number that will likely grow by 200 by 2021, said Dave Berry, vice-president of regulation for the AGLC.
He notes the regulator predicted 250 stores opening in the province by now, adding “we’ve been pretty accurate, and we predicted 500 stores at the end of three years.”
“I don’t see anything changing, I still think it’ll come about but the market will dictate it.”
That figure is also consistent with the state of Oregon, with a population similar to Alberta’s, that legalized sale of the drug three years ago.