Canadian marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis closed on the sale of its enormous Aurora Sun greenhouse to Bevo Farms, although the exact value of the transaction was not disclosed.
The facility sale could result in payments of up to 15 million Canadian dollars ($11.4 million) “over time” by Bevo Farms to Aurora, “based on Bevo Farms successfully achieving certain financial milestones” at the facility, Aurora said in a Monday news release.
Aurora is not currently disclosing further details regarding the deal’s value, a spokesperson told MJBizDaily.
Bevo Farms is a subsidiary of flower and vegetable producer Bevo Agtech, a flower and vegetable producer.
Aurora acquired a controlling interest in Bevo in 2022 for CA$45 million, a deal in which Bevo bought the Aurora Sky facility in Edmonton, Alberta.
The massive Aurora Sun facility in Medicine Hat, Alberta, was originally put up for sale by Aurora in 2021, as first reported by MJBizDaily.
In 2022, Aurora disclosed that a deal to sell the Sun facility was pending for a price tag of nearly CA$47 million – considerably less than Aurora had invested in building the greenhouse.
However, that transaction never closed “due to the purchaser failing to meet closing conditions,” Aurora’s spokesperson told MJBizDaily.
The transaction with Bevo announced Monday “will achieve the dual objectives of improving Aurora’s cash flow, while benefiting Bevo as they proceed with the expansion of their business,” CEO Miguel Martin said in a statement.
Aurora said the deal is expected to save the company CA$2 million in annual carrying costs associated with maintaining the idle Sun greenhouse.
The Edmonton-based company has closed or stopped construction on many cultivation facilities in recent years, including:
- The Aurora Polaris facility in Edmonton.
- An outdoor farm in Westwold, British Columbia.
- A greenhouse in Exeter, Ontario.
- Multiple facilities in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Cremona, Alberta; Markham, Ontario; Lachute, Quebec; and Pointe-Claire, Quebec.
- Two facilities in Denmark.
Aurora reported a net loss of CA$87 million for the quarter ended March 31.
Shares of Aurora trade as ACB on the Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchange.
Solomon Israel can be reached at solomon.israel@mjbizdaily.com.