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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: STZ S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Beverages |
| Predecessor | Canandaigua Brands Inc |
| Founded | 1945 (1945) |
| Founder | 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$4.87 billion (2013) |
| Operating income | US$2.44 billion (2013) |
| Net income | US$1.94 billion (2013) |
| Total assets | US$14.30 billion (2013) |
| Total equity | US$4.98 billion (2013) |
| Number of employees | 4,300 (2011) |
| Divisions | Constellation Wines North America, Constellation Wines Australia and Europe, Constellation Wines New Zealand, Crown Imports |
| Website | www |
Constellation Brands, Inc., of Victor, New York, is a publicly traded drinks company with brands in wine, beer and spirits.
History and description
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. It had sales of over $3.77 billion in fiscal year 2008. It operates about 40 production facilities, employs some 4,300, and markets its products worldwide.
The company owns more than 100 brands in wine, beer and spirits. Wine brands include Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois, Franciscan Estates, Ravenswood, Blackstone, Nobilo, Kim Crawford, Inniskillin, Jackson-Triggs, Manischewitz and Arbor Mist. Beer brands include Corona, Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo, Pacífico, and Tsingtao. Spirits brands include Black Velvet Canadian Whisky, Svedka Vodka and Paul Masson Grande Amber Brandy.
Wine fraud
In 2010, a French court in Carcassonne, France, convicted 12 wine traders and producers for selling fake Pinot noir wine to buyers in the US, amongst them Constellation, in a scheme that lasted from January 2006 to March 2008. Constellation later faced and settled a class action lawsuit because it "should have known" that the wine was fake.
Acquisitions
Constellation Brands has expanded by acquiring other drinks companies.
In 1987, the company purchased the Manischewitz winery in Canandaigua, New York, and continues to license the Manischewitz name from R.A.B. Foods.
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) and Nobilo (New Zealand) in 2003; Robert Mondavi Corp. for $1 billion in 2004; Vincor International, Canada's largest wine company, for $1.44 billion in 2006; Spirits Marque One (owner of Svedka Vodka) in 2007; 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. 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, and its value spirits portfolio in 2009.
In June 2013 the company, which formerly imported Corona and other Modelo brands to the United States, acquired the US rights to those brands as a part of an anti-trust settlement permitting Modelo's acquisition by Anheuser-Busch InBev, along with a brewery in Piedras Negras, Mexico. It now produces its own versions of those products for the US, with Modelo serving all other countries.
In December 2015, Constellation announced the $1 billion acquisition of Ballast Point Brewing of San Diego.
TPP Trade Pacific Pact
Constellation Brands Inc, US Wine Institute and WWWG World Wide Wine Group supported and lobbied the TPP secretive deal since early 2000 leading to the creation of a regional wine cartel. Since 2003 significant and preferential laws were amended in Australia New Zealand and other countries that diminished competition in the market place. The TPP deal was signed in 2015 in Auckland New Zealand.
Constellation and Accolade – Fancy Names for Barbarians
The BRL Hardys story charts all that went wrong with Australian wine
In 2003, Constellation Brands bought BRL Hardy Ltd and became the largest wine company on earth. In 2008, BRL Hardy became Constellation Wines Australia (CWA). Changing its name didn’t change the sad state of the company’s balance sheet, and a fire sale followed: In West Australia, CWA sold the Goundrey and Amberley wineries and closed the bottling lines at Houghtons. Other wineries were closed or sold, and workers dismissed. Long-standing contracts with grape growers were cancelled.(Full article_ )
Lawsuits/Fraud related legal actions since 2002
United States OF AMERICA
Moldauer v Constellation Brands & US Dept of Labor (DOL) & Federal Trade Commission (FTC) -
District Court Washington DC 2014
Moldauer v Constellation Brands & US Dept of Labor (DOL) & Federal Trade Commission (FTC) -
Court of Appeals Washington DC 2015
Australia
Moldauer v Constellation Brands - High Court of Australia 2013 Moldauer v Constellation Brands - Supreme Court of South Australia - Appeal - Chief Justice(2013) (Noted: Police brutality prior to court hearing) - claimed Constellation Brands does no business in Australia Moldauer v Constellation Brands - Supreme Court of South Australia - Master Judge (2012) （Forum Non Conveniens）
(BRL Hardy bought for 1.1B (2003) sold for 290M (2009) Champs Equity 80%)- Red flag
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CANANDAIGUA WINE CO Inc v. MOLDAUER ( Dec 2002 - withdrawn in 2009) Sarbanes Oxley Claim AJL - ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE - DEPT OF LABOR - Moldauer v. Canandaigua Wine AJL 2003-SOX- 00026 (Nov 2003) Arbitration - AAA - American Arbitration Association CONSTELLATION BRANDS, INC. ET AL v. MOLDAUER (Jan 2005)Western District Court of New York - Rochester - 05-CV-6010T CONSTELLATION BRANDS, INC. v. MOLDAUER (Feb 2005) State Supreme Court, Rochester New York 04-34393 Second Circuit 05-0726-cv (April 2005) - stay of Arbitration ( by a state judge in a federal matter) MOLDAUER v CONSTELLATION BRANDS INC + OTHER (Oct 2005) (10 August 2007) Sarbanes Oxley Claim ARB - ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW BOARD - DEPT OF LABOR - Moldauer v Canandaigua Wine ARB 04-022 (Dec 2005) SARBANES - OXLEY - CLAIM - 2002/ - ; SOX 2008 -0073 REFERS: 836 Million accounting error traced back to 2002
AJL /DOL second response, Conclusion (29 Dec 2008)*ARB APPEAL (2009)
Moldauer v Weisberg - California USA, 2010
New Zealand
Moldauer v. Constellation Brands Inc + " Other ?" (NYSE:STZ ASX:CBR)- (lack of Jurisdiction - clerical error)
1. Appeal - High Court of New Zealand -- CIV : 2007- 404-5589
2. Appeal in High Court
3. Court of Appeals in New Zealand - Wellington July 2009
CIV-2005 – 004 – 001686 Auckland District Court, New Zealand (2005)
（Statement of claims (breach of contract, breach of code, deceit, fraud) (2005): - claimed Constellation Brands has no business in New Zealand
See also
References
- ^ Constellation Brands, Incorporated (April 29, 2011), FORM 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended February 28, 2011, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, File 001-08495, film 11793905, retrieved June 30, 2011
- David Kesmodel (February 25, 2010). "Liquor Discounts Become Bad Habit for Spirits Makers". Wall Street Journal. New York.
- French Pinot Noir Class Action Settlement
- "Manischewitz wine - heritage - history". Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
- Shaw, John (January 18, 2003). "Constellation Brands Agrees to Buy Australian Winery". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
- "Mondavi to Join Constellation in $1 Billion Deal". Wine Spectator. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- "Constellation To Buy Vincor for $1.09 Billion". USA Today. April 3, 2006. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- "Constellation Brands to buy Svedka vodka". Reuters. February 6, 2007. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- Sam Zuckerman (November 13, 2007). "Constellation Brands buys several California premium wine labels". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 13, 2007.
- Styles, Oliver (January 23, 2008). "Constellation sells Inglenook, Almaden and Paul Masson winery, reports 832 million dollar loss". Decanter.com.
- Gershberg, Michele (January 12, 2009). "Constellation Sells Value Spirits for $334 Mln". Reuters UK. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- "Constellation and Accolade – Fancy Names for Barbarians - In The Picture". briard.typepad.com. Retrieved March 27, 2016.