Is Aurora Cannabis Stock a Buy as Curaleaf Pushes a Hostile Takeover Bid?

Curaleaf Holdings (OTC: CURLF) wants to buy Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ: ACB) for $4 a share. Aurora wants nothing to do with it.

Curaleaf has now taken its offer directly to Aurora shareholders after the company's board rejected the deal, turning what started as an acquisition proposal into a hostile takeover attempt. And there's real money on the table.

Curaleaf is offering 0.3463 of a share plus $0.75 in cash for every Aurora share, which it says represents a 45% premium to Aurora's 30-day volume-weighted average price before the buyout proposal became public.

But Aurora thinks it's worth more. And there's an argument to be made that it is. Because while longtime cannabis investors may still think of Aurora as one of the poster children for everything that went wrong during the first marijuana stock boom, the company Curaleaf is trying to buy today looks very different from the Aurora of five years ago. Which raises a question: Is Aurora worth owning even if Curaleaf doesn't get the deal done?

A very different Aurora

Anyone who followed Canadian cannabis stocks five or six years ago probably remembers Aurora for all the wrong reasons. Huge losses, excessive spending, dilution, and an industrywide obsession with building cultivation capacity defined much of the early cannabis boom. Today's Aurora looks considerably different.

For fiscal 2026 ended March 31, the company generated $231.3 million in net revenue, up 11% year over year. Global medical cannabis revenue reached a record $206.5 million, up 18%, while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increased 32% to $38.8 million.

Worth noting: Medical cannabis now represents the overwhelming majority of Aurora's business. That's not trivial because medical cannabis generally offers better margins and stronger customer relationships than Canada's brutally competitive recreational market.

Aurora is also becoming increasingly international. About 55% of fiscal 2026 revenue came from outside Canada, with markets such as Germany playing an increasingly important role. And unlike a lot of cannabis companies, Aurora has a genuinely strong balance sheet. It finished fiscal 2026 with no debt and about $118.9 million in cash, short-term investments, and cash equivalents.

Why Curaleaf wants Aurora

Curaleaf already has a major cannabis footprint, particularly in the U.S. Aurora would give it something different: an established international medical cannabis operation and certified cultivation and manufacturing infrastructure.

Aurora's European operations are particularly attractive. Germany has become one of the most important cannabis markets outside North America after regulatory changes took effect in 2024. Aurora already has an established medical cannabis business there, giving Curaleaf another avenue for international growth.

That's a legitimate strategic rationale for the deal. The disagreement is over what Aurora shareholders should get for selling those assets to Curaleaf.

A lot can happen now

Aurora shares jumped after Curaleaf initially disclosed its proposal, which makes buying the stock today very different from buying it before the bid became public. And that creates a problem for anyone considering Aurora simply because they expect the acquisition to happen. Especially when there's no guarantee it will.

Aurora's board is fighting the offer and has told shareholders to take no action while its special committee reviews the bid. Curaleaf's offer must also satisfy various conditions before a transaction can be completed.

Image source: Getty Images.

Of course, the hostile bid could also work in Aurora shareholders' favor. Curaleaf could increase its offer if it doesn't receive enough shareholder support. Another cannabis company could theoretically decide Aurora's international assets are worth pursuing and submit a competing bid. Anything could happen. Or not happen.

And if Curaleaf walks away and no other buyer emerges, Aurora could lose some of the takeover premium currently reflected in its share price, which is just a penny or two shy of the $4 offer. That's why buying Aurora purely as a bet on a higher offer is risky.

Is Aurora stock a buy?

Aurora has spent years transforming itself from an undisciplined Canadian recreational cannabis producer into a much leaner company focused primarily on global medical cannabis.

Revenue is growing. Adjusted EBITDA is improving. International medical sales are increasing. The company also has roughly $118.9 million in cash and equivalents and no debt. That's a much stronger foundation than Aurora had during the cannabis bubble.

Aurora has built an international medical cannabis business that another major cannabis operator believes is valuable enough to pursue through a hostile takeover. I wouldn't suggest buying Aurora simply because Curaleaf is offering $4 per share. But if you're bullish on the long-term expansion of medical cannabis in Europe and other international markets, Aurora is more interesting today than it has been in years. Curaleaf's hostile bid doesn't create that value. It simply makes it harder to ignore.

Jeff Siegel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.