In yet another instance of a marijuana company selling stock to raise fresh capital, Aurora Cannabis (ACB -6.81%) is floating a new secondary share issue. The company announced in a regulatory filing Wednesday that it is selling 20 million "units" for $7.50 apiece in order to raise gross proceeds of $150 million.
The company said it will use its share of the latter "to fund growth opportunities, working capital, and other general corporate purposes."
The issue's underwriters will purchase the entirety of the issue. They also hold a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 15% of the number of units offered, on the same terms and conditions.
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The units comprise a single share of Aurora's common stock plus one half of a warrant. A full warrant grants the holder the right to buy one share of company stock within 40 months of the closing of the issue, at a price of $9 per share. Aurora said it expects the issue to close on or about next Monday, Nov. 16.
Capital raising, particularly via secondary share issues, is very common in the marijuana industry. For the most part, companies in the sector are unprofitable, and they tend to have acute problems with cash flow. Aurora specifically has struggled lately; its latest set of quarterly results shows that revenue only inched up sequentially, while it posted a deep net loss equivalent to $82 million.
The new issue will add at least 20 million new shares to the company's count. With just over 160 million shares currently outstanding, that means a new hit of stockholder dilution for the company.
Investors weren't taking this well. In mid-afternoon trading on Thursday, Aurora was down by more than 8%, a steeper fall than that of the S&P 500 index.
