The makers of Corona are delving farther into the cannabis industry – a lot farther.
Beverage alcohol company Constellation Brands has announced a “significant expansion” of its partnership with cannabis company Canopy Growth.
With new shares Constellation is acquiring, Canopy Growth will have $5 billion to “bolster its leadership position in the global cannabis industry.”
“Through this investment, we are selecting Canopy Growth as our exclusive global cannabis partner,” said Rob Sands, Chief Executive Officer, Constellation Brands.
“Over the past year, we’ve come to better understand the cannabis market, the tremendous growth opportunity it presents, and Canopy’s market-leading capabilities in this space,” he added. “We look forward to supporting Canopy as they extend their recognized global leadership position in the medical and recreational cannabis space.”
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This is said to be the largest investment to date in the cannabis space and aims to “provide funds which Canopy Growth will deploy to strategically build and/or acquire key assets needed to establish global scale in the nearly 30 countries pursuing a federally permissible medical cannabis program, while also rapidly laying the global foundation needed for new recreational cannabis markets.”
Bruce Linton, Chairman and Co-CEO of Canopy Growth said the business can now “make the strategic investments required to accelerate our market position globally.”
“Constellation’s concentration of global cannabis activities exclusively through Canopy, coupled with the investment and its expert capabilities in brand-building, marketing, consumer insights and M&A will be a huge benefit as we look to expand our portfolio in Canada, the United States and emerging cannabis markets around the globe,” added Linton.
“We view this investment in our business as an endorsement of our execution since forming our initial strategic relationship in October 2017.”
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Founded in 2013, Canopy Growth says it has “cemented itself as the industry leader in Canada’s legal cannabis market.”
Through its subsidiaries Tweed and Spectrum Cannabis, Canopy Growth has established a global presence in 11 countries which is driven by product innovation, an intellectual property portfolio, and clinical research programs targeting both human and animal health.
Canopy Growth’s future plans include pursuing various product formats in all cannabis channels.
Both companies have no plans to sell cannabis products in any market unless it is permissible to do so at all applicable government levels.
