Corona Beer Maker Walks Away From Remaining Warrants Of Weed Giant Canopy Growth

Constellation Brands, Inc. STZ announced last week the expiration of all its warrants to acquire common shares of Canadian cannabis producer Canopy Growth Corp. WEED CGC. The alcohol giant said it currently has no intentions or plans related to Canopy.

The New York-based company said in a press release that “all 88,472,861 Tranche A warrants” held by its wholly-owned subsidiary, CBG Holdings LLC expired as of November 1, 2023.

“Since the vesting of the remaining aggregate of 51,272,592 Tranche B and Tranche C warrants was conditioned on the exercise, in full, of the Tranche A warrants, the remaining Warrants are not, and will not become, exercisable by CBG,” Constellation said.

The move resulted in Constellation no longer being deemed to beneficially own any of the 139,745,453 Common Shares underlying the warrants.

Constellation, through its subsidiaries, now has a stake in Canopy amounting to 171.5 million common shares or around 20.7% of the total outstanding shares.

The company said its plans could potentially be subject to a change in light of market conditions, economic and industry circumstances, as well as Canopy's business and financial state or other factors, reported Marijuana Business daily.

A Natural Crossover

Constellation Brands initially acquired a minority stake in the Canadian cannabis giant in 2017, giving the industry much-needed legitimacy at the time. In 2018, Corona beer makers announced an additional $4 billion stake in Canopy Growth.

In addition to Constellation, alcohol giant Molson Coors Beverages Co. TAP has been pouring millions into cannabis as well. In 2021, Molson Coors launched a CBD-infused drink for the Canadian market in collaboration with cannabis giant Hexo Corp, subsequently acquired by another Canadian cannabis giant Tilray Brands, Inc. TLRY TLRY.

Tilray CEO Irwin Simon is no stranger to the growing trend of “a natural crossover” between the two industries, as Benzinga’s Natan Ponieman called it, making the company one of the top craft brewers in the Pacific Northwest.

At the same time Wine And Spirits Wholesalers of America, one of alcohol’s largest advocacy and lobbying groups, sent a letter to Congress earlier this year advocating for the federal regulation of cannabis, by following similar rules to those that regulate alcohol.

Meanwhile, a major crossover deal made the headlines suggesting that the tobacco industry is also getting into the growing trend.

Tobacco Industry Also Wants To Cash In

On Monday, Canadian cannabis company Organigram Holdings Inc. OGI OGI announced a CA$124.6 million ($91.2 million) follow-on strategic equity investment from BT DE Investments Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of tobacco giant British American Tobacco p.l.c (BAT) BTI.

The transaction furthered BAT’s support of Organigram as a trusted partner, accelerating the focus on innovative cannabis science and research and development outside of combustibles. Since March 2021, Organigram’s partnership with BAT has gone from strength to strength, most significantly achieving progress as part of the product development collaboration (PDC) agreement.

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Photo: Courtesy of Tim Foster on Unsplash