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Tilray shares soar 10% premarket after Jefferies upgrades to buy, says Aphria merger ‘the perfect match’

Jefferies upgraded shares of the new Tilray Inc. to buy from underperform on Friday, and said the recent merger of the company with rival Aphria Inc. was "the perfect match." Analyst Owen Bennett raised his price target to $23 from $4.77. "In Canada, a leading portfolio of brands, supported (by) an efficient cost structure," the analyst wrote in a note to clients. "In Europe, the market is now picking up, while Tilray's scale and Aphria's unique German positioning make it perfectly suited to succeed. And in the US, the combined company's broader consumer goods portfolio and strong balance sheet supports excellent optionality around both US THC and CBD." Bennett is expected pro-forma fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2024 combined sales growing 33% to leave fiscal 2024 sales at $1.7 billion, compared with average major Canadian licensed producers of $482 million and major U.S. multi-state operators of $1.6 billion. Tilray shares were up 10% premarket and have gained 71% in the year to date, while the Cannabis ETF has gained 36% and the S&P 500 has gained 11.9%. Read More...

Bloomberg

A $953 Million Singapore Fund Ensnared by Alleged Fraud

(Bloomberg) — Technology startup investor Vickers Venture Partners has been caught up in the allegedly fraudulent nickel trading scheme of a Singaporean businessman and his Envy Global Trading, prompting a review by the city-state’s monetary authority.Vickers would be the highest-profile investor yet to have fallen victim to the suspected $740 million swindle, which Singaporean authorities have said could be the biggest investment fraud the financial hub has ever seen. The alleged mastermind, Ng Yu Zhi, has been charged with a range of suspected crimes from faking the purchase and sale of nickel to falsifying transfers from Citibank and account statements that showed millions in funds.Licensed fund managers must have policies to manage risks, including proper checks before investments, MAS said in an emailed response to Bloomberg’s queries on Thursday. “We are performing a supervisory review” of Vickers Venture Partners (S) Pte Ltd. to “ascertain that it has met these requirements.”Vickers Venture’s founder Finian Tan said in a reply to Bloomberg’s query that he was a personal investor in the receivable financing funds floated by Envy Global Trading, which authorities believe involved false contracts. Two Vickers funds were also investors in companies with exposure to the same trade, he said, adding that the initial due diligence process did not raise any red flags.Tan also confirmed that Ng is among investors in a company that made a small investment in Vickers and another company that put a small amount in one of its seven funds. A representative for Ng didn’t immediately respond to an emailed query.Vickers has $953 million of assets under management, including co-investments. Its founder and chairman was an early investor in Chinese technology giant Baidu Inc. Vickers said in 2020 it received $200 million in commitments for its sixth fund, which is targeted at $500 million.“We are expecting this year to be the best ever year for both funds even if we have to write off the RFEGT investments to zero,” Tan said in a statement, referring to the receivable financing investment. “As venture capitalists, we swing for the fences. And when mistakes occur, we should of course try to minimize them.”Tan said his fund’s ability to hit a “home-run” by taking risks has allowed it to produce outsized returns in the past. “If we slow down our swing and can no longer hit home-runs, then we are done for.”The fraud allegations against Ng center on his dealings at Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading, companies he controlled and where he was a director. Of the more than S$1 billion ($749 million) that was invested in the companies, S$300 million was transferred to Ng’s personal account while an estimated S$200 million remains unaccounted for, prosecutors alleged in court proceedings last month.While investors received payments worth S$700 million, they’re owed another S$1 billion based on the face value of outstanding contracts, prosecutors said.Singapore’s High Court last week approved KPMG LLP as the interim judicial manager of three companies that are linked to the case.(Updates with Vickers fundraising details in sixth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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