Toronto — Canadian marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis is in talks with rivals CanniMed Therapeutics and Newstrike Resources to buy both businesses in a friendly deal that would create the country’s top weed company, according to informed sources. The deal signals an easing of tension after an offer in November by Aurora, Canada’s second-biggest listed cannabis producer, to buy CanniMed in an all-stock bid that was met with resistance and a C$725m (R7bn) lawsuit filed last week. The combined company formed by the deal would inch ahead of industry leader Canopy Health’s C$7.1bn market value. The deal-making and fund-raising frenzy comes as weed companies jostle for prime position before the country’s legalisation of the recreational use of marijuana in mid-2018. Buying CanniMed and Newstrike would boost Aurora’s capacity to meet the demand at home, as well as abroad as more countries approve the use of medical marijuana. Aurora had strongly opposed a plan by CanniMed to buy Newstrike....
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