| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: STZ S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Beverages |
| Predecessor | Canandaigua Wine Company |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Founder(s) | Marvin L. Sands |
| Headquarters | Victor, New York |
| Area served | North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand |
| Key people | Robert Sands, President & CEO Richard Sands, Chairman of the Board |
| Products | Wine, beer, and spirits |
| Revenue | US$4097 million (2011)[1] |
| Operating income | US$503 million (2011)[1] |
| Net income | US$560 million (2011)[1] |
| Total assets | US$7168 million (2011)[1] |
| Total equity | US$2552 million (2011)[1] |
| Employees | 4300 (2011)[1] |
| Divisions | Constellation Wines North America, Constellation Wines Australia and Europe, Constellation Wines New Zealand, Crown Imports |
| Website | www.cbrands.com |
Constellation Brands, Inc., headquartered in Victor, New York, is the world’s leading wine company with a broad portfolio of widely admired premium brands across the wine, beer and spirits categories.
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The company was established in 1945 by Marvin Sands in the Finger Lakes region of New York as Canandaigua Industries Company. Since that time, the company has grown through internal expansion and by acquisitions across all segments of the beverage alcohol industry.
Constellation Brands is the largest wine producer in the world;[2] the largest premium wine company in the U.S.; the largest wine company in the U.K., Australia[3] and Canada; the second largest wine company in New Zealand; the largest beer importer and marketer in the U.S. through its Crown Imports joint venture with Mexico’s Grupo Modelo.[4] Constellation Brands had sales of more than $3.77 billion in fiscal year 2008. It operates approximately 50 production facilities, employs approximately 8,200 and sells and markets its products worldwide.
The company has a portfolio of more than 200 brands across the wine, beer and spirits categories. Major wine brands include Robert Mondavi, Hardys, Clos du Bois, Ravenswood, Blackstone, Banrock Station, Nobilo, Kim Crawford, Inniskillin, Jackson-Triggs and Arbor Mist. Major beer brands include Corona, Modelo Especial and Negra Modelo, Pacífico, St. Pauli Girl and Tsingtao. Major spirits brands include Black Velvet Canadian Whisky, Svedka Vodka and Paul Masson Grande Amber Brandy.
Constellation Brands has expanded by acquiring a number of other beverage companies throughout the world.
In 1998, it acquired Matthew Clark plc in the United Kingdom, and after selling off its cider business, the Gaymer Cider Company, sold half of the business to Punch Taverns. Recent acquisitions include BRL Hardy (Australia)[5] and Nobilo (New Zealand) in 2003; Robert Mondavi Corp. for $1 billion in 2004;[6] Vincor International, Canada’s largest wine company, for $1.44 billion in 2006;[7] Spirits Marque One (owner of Svedka Vodka) in 2007;[8] and Beam Wines Estates, the wine operations of Fortune Brands (which included several major brands such as Clos du Bois) for $885 million in 2008.[9] The company later moved to a more premium wine portfolio, divesting Almaden Vineyards, Inglenook Winery, and the Paul Masson winery in Madera, California, in 2008,[10] and its value spirits portfolio in 2009.[11]