Aurora Cannabis has not given up on its pursuit of CanniMed Therapeutics (CMED.TO) despite receiving no response from the company, according to the executive VP of Aurora.

“They still won’t pick up the phone,” Cam Battley told BNN in an interview Thursday.  

“We reached out to them originally a week ago Monday — the 13th of November — and when you’ve got an offer that is so clearly in their shareholders’ interest, we find it pretty astonishing and quite disappointing that they haven’t even picked up the phone and talked to us,” he added.

Aurora (ACB.TO) gave the CanniMed board until Nov. 17 to respond to its unsolicited offer. However, even though it hasn't received a response,  Aurora still plans to move forward with its all-stock offer, which it valued at $24 per CanniMed share.

“It’s an extremely generous offer and we’re confident that CanniMed shareholders will come our way,” Battley said.

Shortly after the deadline imposed by Aurora lapsed last Friday, CanniMed had news of its own: a friendly, all-stock takeover of Newstrike Resources (HIP.V). It also said it hadn't received a formal offer from Aurora, and so it's advising shareholders to take no action. 

Aurora said it has irrevocable lock-up agreements with about 38 per cent of CanniMed shareholders — including the three largest — to vote in favour of its proposal.

“I think part of the dissatisfaction of the shareholders at CanniMed is that they hadn’t maintained a stronger position in the industry — they went from about first to about 10th in the industry,” he said, noting CanniMed has been a licensed cannabis producer since 2000.  “And so I think the shareholders are looking for a stronger execution.”

“That’s why they came to us.”