Constellation brands, which is known for brewing Corona as well as distills Svedka vodka, has just paid $191 million for a stake in a Canadian based marijuana company.
That company is Canopy Growth Corp., which is the biggest licensed producer of medical marijuana in Canada. It is traded on the Toronto Stock exchange with a market capitalization of C$2.2 billion.
This purchase makes Constellation Brands the very first major wine, beer, and spirits producer to invest into legal marijuana.
The company’s CEO Rob Sands told the WSJ, “We’re obviously trying to get first-mover advantage.”
According to Sands, marijuana may be legalized nationwide in the years to come. ”We think that it’s highly likely, given what’s happened at the state level,” Sands said.
The company has no plans to sell marijuana products in the immediate future in the U.S. or any other market, unless its permissible at both the state and Federal level.
The transaction obviously shows the optimism that Constellation Brands has towards legislation.
According to analysts, the company could be developing non-alcoholic cannabis-infused beverages for the Canadian cannabis market. Marijuana is expected to be legal recreationally in Canada next summer.
