Aurora founder and CEO Terry Booth announced he was stepping down from his position, which he’s occupied since 2013. He’ll remain in an advisory role. Executive chairman Michael Singer will replace him as interim CEO.
BNN Bloomberg, Barron’s
- The company is cutting 500 staff—15% of its 3,400 employees. One quarter of positions cut are executive.
BNN Bloomberg - The combined goodwill writedowns (one alone is for between $740M and $775M) and impairment charges related to “certain intangible and property, plant and equipment” added up to roughly $1B.
Financial Post, Twitter—Vanmala Subramaniam - Multiple analysts downgraded the company on news of Booth’s departure. Over the last year, Aurora’s share price has declined by 80%.
Twitter—David George-Cosh
In one piece of good news, Aurora announced it had got the permits it needed to begin selling MED again in Germany, the EU’s largest market.
MJ Biz Daily
- Two members joined Aurora’s board: Michael Detlefsen, a governor of the Royal Ontario Museum, and Lance Friedmann, ex-senior VP at Kraft.
Twitter—Matt Lamers
Booth’s departure follows the company asking high-profile Chief Corporate Officer Cam Battley to resign in December. (Battley had kind words for Booth on his departure.) Since that time, C-suites across the floundering sector have begun to shuffle their membership, with five companies changing CEOs and executive teams in January alone.
Times Colonist, Twitter—Cam Battley, Financial Post
Two days prior to Booth’s announcement, Keith Merker stepped down as CEO of WeedMD. He had been in that position since 2018.
- Angelo Tsebelis, president of MED retail platform Starseed, will take Merker’s place as Chief Executive. WeedMD acquired Starseed in November for $78M in shares.
London Free Press - A week ago, Alberta LP Sundial Growers announced CEO Torsten Kuenzlen and COO Brian Harriman had resigned, along with executive chairman Ted Hellard, who will remain on the board.
Calgary Herald - Sundial, which also laid off 10% of its employees in January, has haemorrhaged 87% of its value in six months.
Marketwatch
Wildfire Collective CEO Mark Spear said, “The bittersweet thing about what is happening now in the cannabis industry is that a handful of people were sounding the alarm 4 years ago about what would happen if quality wasn’t dramatically improved. They were fired. Now the people that fired them are fired.”
Twitter—Mark Spear
