Aurora Cannabis closes sale of Edmonton-area facility for $15M

Aurora Cannabis Inc. says it has closed the sale of its Aurora Polaris facility.

The Edmonton-based company says gross proceeds from the sale totalled about $15 million.

Aurora announced in 2021 that it would close the Alberta property as part of a plan to streamline its operations.

The company said at the time eight per cent of its global workforce would be impacted by the closure.

It also said that the location's medical distribution operations would move to the Aurora Sky facility, while manufacturing would be relocated to Aurora River in Bradford, Ont.

An Alberta government website detailing major projects in the region shows the Aurora Polaris facility was about 2,787 square metres, with one-third of the space dedicated to warehousing and distribution of cannabis products and the remainder hosting product manufacturing.

The website says the property had an estimated cost of $50 million and was adjacent to the Sky facility by the Edmonton International Airport.

In May 2022, the company announced plans to close several other facilities — including the Sky facility and two in British Columbia — and cope with pricing pressures that ate into revenues already hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time, the third-quarter loss the business reported was up from a more than $160 million loss in the same quarter last year and was coupled with $741.7 million in goodwill impairment charges and $176.1 million in impairment related to property, plants and equipment.

The company said its current balance sheet remains in a net cash position, with about $320 million of cash and cash equivalents including about $63 million of restricted cash.

Aurora also reiterated its expectation of achieving profitability based on adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2022.