Aurora Cannabis recently announced that as part of its 2019 business acumen, it will be expanding its green footprint in Europe.
The company, which is currently one of the biggest marijuana-centric businesses situated in the nation of Canada, confirmed this through the announcement of its acquisition of a 51 percent ownership stake in Gaia Pharm, situated in Portugal. Via the same announcement, the company confirmed that the move is in line with the company's vision in establishing a local facility in Europe to produce medical marijuana, as well as other related products.
Last week, Gaia Pharm received the green signal from the Portuguese Health Ministry to start the construction of its EU regulatory compliant cannabis cultivation facility.
An early move
The reason why Aurora chose Portugal as the headquarters for its European expansion is because of its immature cannabis market that, given the right push, can present so many opportunities for growth, especially with the country's population of 10 million. Situating itself in a country with a cannabis market in its infancy then provides the company with an early advantage, giving them all the time to prepare for its eventual growth.
The country's current status as an EU member was also mentioned in Aurora's press release relating to the purchase of the ownership stakes.
Per Terry Booth, who's currently the CEO for Aurora, "We are very pleased to be entering yet another European market, and look forward to collaborating with our joint venture partners." He continued, "The government of Portugal and the Portuguese medical community, to encourage the development of a rigorously regulated and safe medical cannabis system that is well supplied and accessible to patients."
Presently, the company is now active in around 24 countries, making it one of the biggest marijuana companies operating today.
Recently, analysts at Jeffries giving the company a strong buy rating pushed its shares to jump 4.7 percent. The same shares also jumped 3 percent the day after.
A growing industry
The marijuana company has certainly grown throughout the more recent years, anchored by numerous marijuana-centric companies that have championed the previously infamous drug. On the front row in Canada, which last year, became the first ever G7 nation to fully legalize the cultivation, growth, and recreational use of marijuana.
As a result, Canada ended marijuana's almost century-long infamy and potentially encouraging other countries to follow suit.
