Aphria Inc. (TSX: APHA, NYSE: APHA, FRA: 10E)
Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List)
Morganti & Co. is representing several individual investors in bespoke litigation against Aphria, Inc. (“APHA”), who are either not included or desire to be excluded from the pending shareholder class actions in Canada and the United States. Our clients are based in Europe, India, and North America. Each investor has realized losses greater than C$250,000. Unlike the pending shareholder class actions, these bespoke claims are not limited by a “class period” and, as a result, we are able to seek damages for shares purchased prior to March 2018.
Aphria purported to be a Canadian cannabis company that “drive[s] value for shareholders through its international expansion”, which includes acquiring assets of other alleged cannabis companies located outside of Canada. During the relevant time period, Aphria made large acquisitions of other cannabis companies identified as Nuuvera, acquired on March 23, 2018, for approximately $54 million in cash plus 31 million shares of Aphria (a total value of approximately $826 million); and LATAM, acquired on September 27, 2018, for approximately 15.6 million shares of Aphria. The Defendants were obligated to disclose all material facts relevant to the issues discussed in the Impugned Statements. In certain of the Impugned Statements the Defendants certified that they had disclosed all material facts concerning these acquisitions. In actuality, the Defendants did not disclose all material facts about the acquisitions and other material items discussed in the Impugned Statements.
The truth of the Defendants misstatements was revealed in a series of Public Corrective Disclosures (otherwise called “storm warnings”) released on March 21 and 25, 2018, May 30, 2018, December 3 – 4, 2018, and April 15, 2019 (the “Public Corrective Disclosures”). In these disclosures, Aphria and third-parties revealed that the Defendants had concealed material facts from the market (and the Plaintiff), concerning:
- Aphria artificially inflating the reported values of the Nuuvera and LATAM assets (in order to make the Nuuvera and LATAM acquisitions seem more attractive to Aphria’s investors); and
- Aphria concealing and failing to disclose that the Individual Defendants had large financial stakes (which were valued at over one hundred million dollars), in Nuuvera and LATAM.
The Public Corrective Disclosures had the foreseeable effect of removing the artificial inflation in the Company’s stock price that had resulted from the aforementioned misrepresentations resulting in Aphria’s shares dropping 50% in price and value.
Claim or Motion for Authorization issued: October 25, 2019, et. seq.
Class Period: This is bespoke individual litigation without a class period.
Leave to Proceed Record Served:
Leave to Proceed Hearing:
Shareholders’ Canadian Counsel: Eli Karp, Sajjad Nematollahi, and Hadi Davarinia, Morganti & Co.
Shareholders’ Canadian Expert(s):
Defendants’ Canadian Counsel: