A new report by Bloomberg News is casting doubt on an investigative report published last November that concluded Aphria's foreign assets were worthless.
The report by Hindenburg Research last month accused officials at the Leamington pot producer of diverting funds from shareholders and into their own pockets.
"We are of the strong opinion that Aphria is part of a scheme orchestrated by a network of insiders," said the report December 3.
One of the assets red-flagged in Hindenburg's report is a $145 million Jamaican acquisition. It said the facility was an abandoned building.
However, the new report by Bloomberg said a reporter visited the farm and found a thriving grow operation.
"Off a dirt road outside Kingston, Jamaica, 300 marijuana plants sit in manicured rows," Bloomberg said in the report read.
Aphria quickly responded to the Hindenburg report at the time calling it "malicious" and "self-serving", but the news did negatively impact the price of shares in the company.
On December 27, U.S. cannabis retailer, Green Growth Brands also announced its intentions to submit a hostile takeover bid for Aphria. The bid valued the Leamington company at $2.8 billion CDN. Aphria suggested the proposal was not a good deal for its shareholders.
The Hindenburg report and a second from Quintessential Capital Management also targeted acquisitions in South America.
Bloomberg quoted a note from analysts at Scotiabank who suggested the price Aphria paid for assets in Columbia, Argentina and Jamaica are not unreasonable.
"These transactions indicate to us that Aphria's purchase price of $193 million CAD for Columbia, Argentina, and Jamaica is, at the very least, rational and perhaps even relatively inexpensive," said the quote.
