Constellation Brands Inc., Victor, N.Y., reported net sales for the 2014 fiscal year were more than $4.8 billion, a 74 percent increase, following its acquisition of the Grupo Modelo U.S. beer business.

Victor, N.Y.-based Constellation Brands Inc. reported a successful second quarter of its 2014 fiscal year following the integration of its newly acquired brewery operations. As a result of the Mexico City-based Grupo Modelo U.S. beer business acquisition, the company recorded a $1.6 billion non-cash gain on the re-measurement to fair value of the company’s original 50 percent interest in Crown Imports LLC, Chicago. In addition, the consolidation garnered $763 million of incremental net sales, boosting overall consolidated net sales for the quarter.

Continuing what was seen during the recession, consumers are either buying more premium-priced beers or buying less beer overall, Jennifer Zegler, beverage analyst at Mintel, Chicago, told Beverage Industry in March.

Constellation Brands Inc., Victor, N.Y., reported a 6 percent increase in net sales reaching $673 million for the first quarter of its fiscal-year 2014.

Constellation Brands Inc., Victor, N.Y., announced that it completed its acquisition of Grupo Modelo's U.S. beer business from Anheuser-Busch InBev, Leuven, Belgium, for approximately $4.75 billion. The transaction includes full ownership of Crown Imports LLC, which provides Constellation with complete, independent control of all aspects of the U.S. commercial business; a state-of-the-art brewery in Nava (Piedras Negras), Mexico; an exclusive perpetual brand license in the United States to import, market and sell Corona and the Modelo brands Crown currently sells; and the freedom to develop brand extensions and innovations for the U.S. market.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), Leuven, Belgium, has completed its acquisition of Grupo Modelo, Mexico City, in a transaction valued at $20.1 billion.

Grupo Modelo brands Corona Extra and Corona Light pumped up the party with their new “Corona de Mayo” marketing push in the weeks that led up to Cinco de Mayo on May 5.

The old saying goes, “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” It’s not too hard to apply that saying to the U.S. beer market as analysts recognize the role different tiers and segments play in the category’s efforts to bring its case and dollar sales positioning back to pre-recession levels.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), Leuven, Belgium, and Constellation Brands Inc., Victor, N.Y., announced a revised agreement that establishes Chicago-based Crown Imports as the No. 3 producer and marketer of beer in the United States through a complete divestiture of Grupo Modelo’s U.S. business.

On Jan. 31, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Washington, D.C., filed a civil antitrust lawsuit challenging Leuven, Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (AB InBev) proposed acquisition of total ownership and control of Grupo Modelo, Mexico City.