Aphria, Tilray In Talks To Merge: Report

Aphria Inc. APHA and Tilray Inc. TLRY are contemplating a merger.

The two companies began negotiations this week, and an official announcement could be released before Friday, according to BNN Bloomberg.

The resulting company would keep the Tilray name and put Irwin Simon, Aphria’s current CEO, as Chief Executive Officer.

Aphria would come out as the majority stakeholder, holding the largest number of seats on the board, the report continued, citing an unnamed source.

The merger would save the companies up to CA$100 million ($78.7 million) in yearly costs, while generating annual revenues of over CA$930 million ($732 million).

Cannabis M&A deals have swept across the industry in the last two years. Should this deal close, it would merge two of the largest players in Canada into a massive marijuana juggernaut with a combined market cap of $3.3 billion.

Both stocks traded higher by more than 15% in Tuesday's after-hours session.

Lead image by Ilona Szentivanyi. Copyright: Benzinga.