Aphria merger approved by Tilray´s shareholders

Tilray Inc. TLRY, -4.30% Shareholders in a special meeting on Friday approved the proposed merger of the Canadian cannabis company with Aphria Inc. APHA, -0.45% APHA, -3.12% in an extraordinary meeting on Friday, and thereby paved the way for creating the world's largest cannabis company by revenue. The move was widely expected after Aphria shareholders voted in favor of the deal by a large majority. A total of 99.38% of the shares voted for the deal on April 14th. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter. Under the terms of the proposed deal, Aphria shareholders will receive 0.8381 of one Tilray Class 2 share for each Aphria share. Tilray amended its Articles of Association in April to reduce the quorum for voting shareholders to one-third of the voting rights of the outstanding shares that are eligible to vote to approve the deal, rather than a majority of the voting rights of the outstanding shares. It was expected that this move would make it easier for the deal to be approved. Tilray shares closed down 1.78% on Friday but are up 122% year-to-date. Aphria shares closed down 0.5% and are also up 122% since the start of the year. The cannabis ETF THCX, -2.35% is up 47% and the S&P 500 SPX, 0.58% is up 9%.