Globe peels back covers on Aphria investor DeFrancesco
Aphria Inc (C:APHA)
Shares Issued 249,762,289
Last Close 1/4/2019 $8.07
Monday January 7 2019 - In the News
The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that in early December, short-sellers took aim at Aphria over a series of deals. A triple-bylined item led by Christina Pellegrini says that the short-sellers alleged that Aphria issued almost $300-million in stock to buy assets in Jamaica, Colombia and Argentina that have almost no value and that, even worse, the deals enriched investors with ties to Aphria. At the centre of those deals was the 48-year-old Andy DeFrancesco, a long-time deal-maker and trader who helped get Aphria started. Aphria has not yet released its promised point-by-point rebuttal of the short-sellers' lengthy report. That leaves Mr. DeFrancesco to defend himself and those apparently cozy deals. During his 26-year career on Bay Street,
Mr. DeFrancesco said, he has hit some grand slams such as American Apparel, Dalradian Resources and Kahala Brands. When Mr. DeFrancesco joined Canaccord Genuity in 2001 and was in search of an investment-banking deal, he brought Yogen Fruz into the firm, he said. He has also run into trouble. The short-sellers seized on his mixed track record, highlighting his connections to defendants in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission action alleging a pump-and-dump scheme.
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