Some of Canada’s biggest cannabis companies are expanding their presence in Europe through a series of strategic acquisitions, designed to secure a first-mover advantage in a region that is firmly on the path towards the legalization of medical weed. Two of the biggest deals in the Canadian cannabis space had Europe’s medical cannabis market in mind. When Aurora Cannabis succeeded in its takeover of CanniMed Therapeutics — a two-month bid that was fraught with hostilities — it not only acquired the most well-oiled medical marijuana machine in the country, it bought over a company whose advances in cannabis research perfectly complement Aurora’s own foray into the burgeoning medical cannabis markets of Denmark, Italy and Germany.