On Thursday, Constellation Brands will report its third-quarter and year-to-date results for fiscal-2017. Here, just-drinks takes a look at the company’s activities in the three months to the end of November.
- In September, analysts began to speculate about the impact a Donald Trump presidency could have on Constellation. SIG’s Pablo Zuanic said the election of Trump could strip out the company’s beer business if he made good on a promise to deport unauthorised immigrants
- At the start of October, reports suggested Constellation was eyeing the sale of its Canadian wine division, though the firm declined to comment
- A few days later, the company beat Pernod Ricard to acquire US whiskey producer High West Distillery, in a deal worth US$160m
- The move was followed by CEO Rob Sands’ assertion that his firm was in a “position to attack anything” in M&A. Analysts were buoyed by Sands’ comments, noting acquisitions were at the premium end
- In mid-October, the company announced that it had sold its Canadian wine unit for $761m
- Then at the end of the month, Constellation agreed to purchase a Mexican brewery from Anheuser-Busch InBev. The $600m deal sees the company become “fully independent” from an interim supply agreement with AB InBev
- On 8 November, the US voted to elect Donald Trump as its 45th president. While some analysts had predicted problems, others could see benefits for Constellation. Meanwhile, Sands said that a Trump presidency will have “no impact whatsoever in the near term”.