Aurora Cannabis surges on Organigram's higher takeover offer

British American Tobacco

Tue 18:29

** US- and Toronto-listed shares of pot firm Aurora Cannabis ACB.O ACB.TO rise
** Organigram OGI.TO agrees to acquire Aurora for C$7.80 per share, valuing the Canadian cannabis producer at about C$561 million ($400.77 million)
** Offer represents a 32.4% premium to Aurora's November 2 Toronto close of C$5.89 and is about 21% higher than Curaleaf Holdings' CURA.TO latest hostile bid
** Curaleaf launched its takeover attempt in August and raised its offer in October; Aurora's board rejected the bid
** US shares up 5.11% at $20.97, while Toronto-listed shares up 21.1% at C$7.13
** Aurora shareholders can receive cash, Organigram shares or a combination; they are expected to own about 35% of the combined company
** British American Tobacco BATS.L will invest C$187.5 million to help finance the deal; Organigram expects more than C$50 million in savings and additional revenue
** Shareholder votes are expected in December, with the deal targeted to close in January
** As of last close, stock up ~20% YTD

($1 = 1.3998 Canadian dollars)

 (Reporting by Kunal Das in Bengaluru)
 ((Kunal.Das2@thomsonreuters.com;))