# Beer Maker Bets $3.8 Billion on Big Marijuana

By: [Team Stash](/content/learn/author/team-stash/index.html)

Published: Aug 15, 2018

•  Updated: Aug 22, 2024

#### In this article:

1. [**What you need to know:**](/content/learn/beer-maker-bets-3-8-billion-on-big-marijuana/#what-you-need-to-know/index.html)
2. [**More details:**](/content/learn/beer-maker-bets-3-8-billion-on-big-marijuana/#more-details/index.html)

Beverage company Constellation Brands, which produces and markets Corona beer and numerous other alcoholic beverages, is making a nearly [$4 billion investment](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/constellation-brands-to-invest-5-billion-cad-4-billion-usd-in-canopy-growth-to-establish-transformative-global-position-and-alignment-300697445.html) in Canadian marijuana grower Canopy Growth Corp.

## What you need to know:

- The $4 billion investment raises Constellation’s ownership stake in Canopy to 38%, with the option to increase it to 50% within the next three years.
- Canopy is the [first and largest](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/canopy-growth-stock-price0millennials-are-snapping-up-the-shares-of-worlds-largest-marijuana-company-earnings-2018-8-1027458650) cannabis company to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
- A large investment in the cannabis industry from a big business like Constellation might signal that marijuana is officially entering the mainstream.
- “Through this investment, we are selecting Canopy Growth as our exclusive global cannabis partner,” Constellation Brands CEO Rob Sands said in a statement.

## More details:

Marijuana is becoming a [mainstream commodity](/content/learn/marijuana-business-what-you-need-to-know/index.html), and with relatively few big businesses willing to wade into the cannabis market thus far, Constellation’s move is a big indicator that the corporate world sees it as a promising market.

Likewise, governments are getting on board, too. Several U.S. states have legalized marijuana, and [Canada will fully legalize](/content/learn/canada-marijuana/index.html) cannabis later this year, becoming the second country in the world, after Uruguay, to do so.

Constellation’s move will make a splash, but it’s not the first company in the alcohol industry to wade into the cannabis industry. Molson Coors is also looking at the cannabis industry as a potential source of growth as [beer sales have slowed](https://www.wsj.com/articles/ab-inbev-stumbles-in-u-s-but-profits-rise-elsewhere-1525860679). The company [inked a deal](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-01/molson-coors-bets-on-pot-with-cannabis-beverage-joint-venture) with marijuana company Hydropothecary Corp. to create marijuana drinks in early August, and another beer company, Heineken, is also [working on THC-infused brews](https://www.businessinsider.com/heineken-marijuana-beer-taste-photos-lagunitas-2018-8) through its Lagunitas brand.

Written by

[Team Stash](/content/learn/author/team-stash/index.html)