Canadian cannabis company Aphria Inc. sees its share price nose-dive

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      It's been a rough couple of days for investors in Leamington, Ontario–based Aphria Inc.

      As of this writing, the share price of $6.49 is off 14.61 percent on the day and nearly 62.5 percent from its high-water mark of the month.

      Today, the TSX- and NYSE-listed cannabis company tried to stem the decline by offering an update on the purchase of licences in Colombia, Argentina, and Jamaica from LATAM Holdings Inc.

      "Since closing this important strategic acquisition in September, we have made considerable progress supporting and building out our operations on the ground in Latin America and the Caribbean," Aphria CEO Vic Neufeld said in a statement. "We have nearly 100 employees across the region dedicated to advancing the company’s business interests, including cultivation, processing, research and development, partnerships and continued expansion.

      "International operations are a core component to our proven growth strategy and we are working to integrate and enhance operations and product channels throughout Latin America to position them for sustainable, long-term shareholder value creation.”

      The company's shares have been pounded by a short seller's claim that the LATAM deal was designed to benefit Aphria insiders. The company paid nearly $700 million for the assets.

      In its statement today, Aphria insisted that it's "committed to good corporate governance and transparency".

      "The LATAM acquisition was a transaction negotiated at arms’ length between two publicly traded companies each of which retained professional financial advisors (one of which provided a formal valuation of the acquired assets)," Aphria declared. "Aphria and SOL Global Investments Corp. (formerly Scythian Biosciences Corp.) ('SOL') are not 'sister' companies and were not 'sister' companies at the time the Transaction was agreed to between the parties."

      Update

      Aphria Inc. shares closed at $5.99 today, down 21.18 percent. There was a very high volume of stocks traded: 27.3 million.

       

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