It’s time for your Daily Hit of cannabis financial news for May 26, 2020.

On The Site

Aphria Inc. NYSE: APHA has decided to throw in the towel on its listing at the New York Stock Exchange and is moving to NASDAQ effective Friday, June 5, 2020, after the market close. Aphria said that shareholders  can expect the common stock will begin trading as a Nasdaq-listed security at market open on Monday, June 8, 2020 and will continue to be listed under the ticker symbol “APHA.” This transition will not impact the company’s primary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: APHA).

It is cheaper for companies to list at NASDAQ than it is to list at the NYSE. The amenities offered to companies that list at NYSE don’t apply to cannabis companies. For example, a cannabis company can list at NYSE, but is not allowed to ring the opening or closing bells. Cannabis companies are treated like second class citizens at the NYSE, but their exchange listing money seems to be considered of equal value.

In Other News

Tilray

Tilray, Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary High Park Gardens will close its doors over the course of the next six weeks. As a result of the closure, the company said it expects to realize annualized net savings of approximately $7.5 million (current production costs net of future 3rd party purchases and ongoing depreciation) and avoid significant ongoing capital expenditures.

In 2019, Tilray acquired Natura Naturals Inc., in a deal valued at C$35 million and has since operated it as High Park Gardens.  The deal cost C$15 million in cash and C$20 million in Tilray Class 2 common stock.

The High Park Gardens facility contains 406,000 square feet of Health Canada licensed space for cannabis cultivation and manufacturing. High Park Gardens has worked collaboratively with Tilray’s existing operational sites to primarily serve the adult-use market in Canada.

“We are continuously evaluating the evolving needs of our business, against a challenging industry backdrop, to ensure we’re in the best position to produce world-class products and deliver positive results for our stakeholders,” says Brendan Kennedy, Tilray CEO. “The decision to close a facility is never easy but we are confident that this will immediately put Tilray in a better position to achieve our goals of driving revenues across our core businesses and working towards positive adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2020. We are very confident our existing operations team will continue to serve our valued patients and customers with no interruption. On behalf of myself, the rest of our executive team, and our colleagues across the organization, I’d like to extend my sincere gratitude to the team at High Park Gardens for their contributions to Tilray and High Park.”

TGOD

The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd.  (OTC:TGODF) has made its first shipment of Highly Dutch, TGOD’s new mainstream brand designed for regular users. Starting today, Highly Dutch is available in Quebec in a one-ounce format (28 grams) of its Rotterdam OG Indica strain and will become available in additional provinces during the weeks ahead. This launch will be followed by additional Highly Dutch strains, sizes, and formats later this summer.