{"id":11688,"date":"2018-08-16T07:27:45","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T07:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=11688"},"modified":"2018-08-16T07:27:45","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T07:27:45","slug":"corona-owner-makes-4-billion-bet-on-cannabis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=11688","title":{"rendered":"Corona owner makes $4 billion bet on cannabis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Corona,\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The maker of Corona is betting that consumers want something more than beer and booze.<\/h2>\n

Constellation Brands is spending $4 billion to boost its stake in cannabis company Canopy Growth. Constellation also owns a big wine business, SVEDKA vodka and Casa Noble tequila. <\/p>\n

It first invested in Canopy Growth last year<\/a>, when it bought a 10% stake. Wednesday’s move upped its holding in Constellation<\/span> (STZ<\/a><\/span>)<\/span> to 38%, and leaves open the option to purchase a majority controlling share of more than 50%. <\/p>\n

Shares of Canopy<\/span> (CGC<\/a><\/span>)<\/span>, which trade on both the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange surged more than 25% on the Constellation news. (Canopy’s TSE ticker is WEED by the way.) <\/p>\n

Other publicly traded cannabis companies<\/a>, such as Cronos<\/span> (CRON<\/a><\/span>)<\/span> and MedMen Enterprises<\/span> (MMNFF<\/a><\/span>)<\/span>, rallied in the United States and Canada<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Constellation’s stock, however, fell nearly 6% after announcing the investment. <\/p>\n

Constellation CEO Rob Sands said during Canopy’s earnings conference call Wednesday morning that it was an extremely exciting time to be in the cannabis business. <\/p>\n

“This could potentially be one of the most significant global growth opportunities for the next decade,” Sands said. <\/p>\n

Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton told CNN’s Richard Quest in an interview Wednesday that the deal gives Canopy more credibility. <\/p>\n

As more countries around the world start to legalize marijuana, Constellation may be able to launch more cannabis-based alcoholic beverages. Linton told Quest that a drink with no calories that can help fight depression is a possibility for example. <\/p>\n

“Constellation gets it. This is happening globally,” Linton told Quest, adding that Constellation can benefit by being the first to market with cannabis-based drinks while other beer and alcohol companies are still trying to figure out what to do in the market. <\/p>\n

Even though the recreational use of marijuana is legal in California, Colorado and Vermont and several other states, it is still a federal crime to purchase and possess marijuana. <\/p>\n

But Bonnie Herzog, an analyst with Wells Fargo, said she expects Constellation and Canopy to partner on “drinkable cannabis products given the enormous growth opportunity ahead” globally. <\/p>\n

Herzog added “there is an expectation that marijuana will eventually be legalized in the U.S.” <\/p>\n

So it may be a matter of when, rather than if, Constellation will be able to sell cannabis beverages in America. <\/p>\n

Constellation said it did not have a plan for such a product yet. <\/p>\n

Kevin Murphy, CEO of Acreage Holdings, a cannabis producer that has former US House Speaker John Boehner on its board, said in an email to CNNMoney that he expects more beverage companies — and perhaps even Big Pharma firms — to look more closely at developing cannabis products too. <\/p>\n

One drugmaker, GW Pharmaceuticals<\/span> (GWPH<\/a><\/span>)<\/span>, has a cannabis-based treatment for epilepsy called Epidiolex that was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration<\/a>. <\/p>\n

CNNMoney (New York) <\/span> First published August 15, 2018: 2:11 PM ET<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The maker of Corona is betting that consumers want something more than beer and booze. Constellation Brands is spending $4 billion to boost its stake in cannabis company Canopy Growth. Constellation also owns a big wine business, SVEDKA vodka and Casa Noble tequila. It first invested in Canopy Growth last year, when it bought a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}