Canadian cannabis producer and distributor Aurora Cannabis Inc. has acquired privately held biotechnology company Anandia Laboratories Inc. in an all-share deal, adding another cannabis company to its roster as the industry heats up.

Anandia is a cannabis-focused science company, focusing on genomics, metabolite profiling, plant breeding and disease characterization. The company also provides testing services to producers and patient cultivators.

In June, Aurora said it would acquire 100% of Anandia's outstanding shares by issuing Aurora common shares worth C$115 million. Aurora said Aug. 14 that the acquisition was part of its vertical integration strategy to access new revenue streams, increase profit margins, bolster cultivation yields, develop intellectual property and create a broad portfolio of high value-added products.

Separately, British Columbia-based Aurora issued 756,348 common shares to CannaRoyalty Corp. to acquire certain exclusive Canadian licensing rights to a pre-roll technology developed by Las Vegas, Nev.-based Wagner Dimas Inc., a cannabis technology company. The licensing rights are valued at C$7 million, and the value of the shares issued as of Aug. 13 was about C$4.5 million.

Aurora has been active in the merger and acquisition space recently, having recently closed a C$3.2 billion all-stock acquisition of medical cannabis company MedReleaf Corp. The cannabis industry is experiencing exponential growth as the legalization of medical marijuana continues and investors grow bolder on funding innovators to expand the use of cannabis.