National

Cannabis Producer Gets $4 Billion Investment From Beer Company

by Vanessa Romo

Canopy Growth Corp., the parent company of Corona beer and other alcoholic drinks, is expanding its partnership with a Canadian pot producer, betting on the continued growth in the medical and recreational cannabis markets.
Canopy Growth Corp., the parent company of Corona beer and other alcoholic drinks, is expanding its partnership with a Canadian pot producer, betting on the continued growth in the medical and recreational cannabis markets. Richard Drew / AP

Despite falling short on quarterly earnings expectations, Canadian-based Canopy Growth, the world's highest valued marijuana stock, skyrocketed on Wednesday after the maker of Corona beer invested $5 billion Canadian, which is nearly $4 billion U.S.

The giant injection of cash from Constellation Brands is the largest strategic investment in the cannabis market to date, and comes at a time when alcohol companies are making large ventures into the industry.

"We're going to spend that money to be around the globe," Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton told CityNews on Thursday.

In a press release, Canopy Growth said the newest stream of funding will allow it to operate in "nearly 30 countries pursuing a federally permissible medical cannabis program, while also rapidly laying the global foundation needed for new recreational cannabis markets."

In addition to dried cannabis, Linton said the company will soon begin making recreational products including beverages, and expanding its scope of medical research in 11 countries, where it is currently active.

He said the plan is "to just deploy this cash and be number one in all of those countries."

On Wednesday, Canopy Growth shares saw an increase of 30 percent, which MarketWatch reported, was their biggest one-day gain since it became the first marijuana company to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange in May.

The spike followed a disappointing 2019 first quarter earnings report, which ended on June 30, 2018. The five-year-old company "posted a loss of $0.40 a share, far outpacing the $0.11 loss that was expected," according to Market Insider.

The latest cash infusion brings Constellation's stake in the cannabis company up to 38 percent.

Constellation Brands' CEO Rob Sands said in a statement, "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."

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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