Cannabis firm founder, CEO steps aside, cites health

Aphria Inc.’s chief executive will step down from the top job citing the “toll on health, family and personal priorities,” but Vic Neufeld says the decision is unrelated to recent short-seller allegations that have hit the cannabis producer’s stock.

The Leamington, Ont.-company also announced Friday that co-founder Cole Cacciavillani will also leave his current role as vice-president growing operations in the coming months, but both he and Neufeld will remain on the board.

The past five years have been an “incredible journey,” but it is time for a “globally minded” executive team to lead Aphria into the next chapter, said Neufeld.

“It was just time for us to move aside,” he told analysts on a call discussing Aphria’s latest quarterly earnings. “This has nothing to do with the short-sellers’ report, the review, the valuation of assets. It was time.”

Neufeld said he and Cacciavillani will begin the transition process immediately and step down from their executive positions “at the appropriate time.”

Aphria’s independent chairman Irwin Simon and president Jakob Ripshstein will manage the transition.

Neufeld and Cacciavillani are “consummate entrepreneurs and the Aphria dream would not have become a reality without them,” Simon said on the conference call.

“During this transition period, we’re going to work hard to benefit from their mentorship,” he added.

Shares of Aphria Inc. rose by as much as 9.6 per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange to $9.55 on the news, but closed at $9.18.

Aphria faced allegations in December by short-sellers questioning the company’s acquisitions in Colombia, Argentina and Jamaica. Shares in the company plunged in the wake of the report by Quintessential Capital Management and Hindenburg Research. The two short-sellers alleged that Aphria’s acquisition of assets totalling $280 million were bought at “vastly inflated prices” as part of a scheme orchestrated by a network of insiders.