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“This is not material,” Neufeld said.

The Ontario Securities Commission, the regulatory body for the securities industry in the province, appears to agree. A spokeswoman for the OSC said Monday that the commission has fielded media calls about the Aphria-Nuuvera deal and is aware of the controversy, but Neufeld said he is not aware of any formal complaint or investigation.

According the OSC, the takeover of Nuuvera was what’s referred to as an “arms-length transaction.”

“In an arm’s length transaction, there would typically not be disclosure of shares held by insiders of the acquirer,” OSC spokeswoman Kirsten French said.

Neufeld said he and other executives at Aphria were approached by Nuuvera about buying shares in a private placement round more than a year ago. The asking price was $1 a share. Neufeld said he bought 200,000 shares in the then-private company.

“We got in as did many others,” he said.

Aphria also bought shares. He said the holdings of the company and of the executives and directors combined represent 0.9 per cent of all outstanding shares.

When the acquisition closed Friday, the Nuuvera shares became shares in Aphria.

“We did not cash out,” said Neufeld, countering publicized claims that the deal was a multi-million-dollar personal windfall for himself and the others. The shares have been held in escrow, he said, meaning they could not sell their holdings even if they wanted to.

Naming six other firms, Neufeld said he owns stock in other cannabis companies, as well, and that his holdings in Nuuvera were no different. “I believed in the management, the vision and the business model.”