Shares in Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE:ACB) (TSX:ACB), the Canadian cannabis giant, were still rising Monday in premarket trade after the company said it was poised to enter the Mexico market through an exclusive partnership with Farmacias Magistrales S.A.
The Mexican pharma group has a broad reach to around 80,000 retail points and 500 pharmacies and hospitals across the Latin American country.
READ: Aurora Cannabis CEO slams cannabis rollout in Ontario and British Columbia
"This new exclusive partnership further expands Aurora's early mover advantage in Latin America, allowing us to become a leading player in the development of the medical cannabis system in Mexico, a legal market of 130 million people," said Aurora CEO Terry Booth.
"We look forward to working with Farmacias, and leveraging its strong retail, pharmacy, and hospital networks to provide high-quality, medical grade cannabis to patients in this new and significant market.
"We will also offer the Mexican government authorities whatever support they deem valuable, based on our insights and experience earned from operating in multiple nationally legal medical cannabis systems around the world."
Farmacias recently received the first and only import license granted to date, from the Mexican government body responsible for medical cannabis licensing.
According to analysts, while the Mexican licensing body, the Federal Commission for Protection Against Health Risks, is likely to approve distribution deals with other companies, this is still going to give Aurora a huge first-mover advantage in the large Mexican market.
Aurora is one of the world's largest cannabis companies.
Last week, it said it had secured an export permit and completed its first shipment of medical cannabis to the Czech Republic.
The first order was shipped to Czech Medical Herbs s.r.o., a Czech drug wholesaler, which will supply pharmacies across the country.
Shares in Aurora which soared 8.4% to close at $5.72 in New York Friday were rallying in premarket trade Monday to touch $5.78.
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