Budweiser’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch enters $100 million deal with Canadian Cannabis Company.
Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch joined the ranks of other beverage giants that have inked deals with Canadian cannabis companies this year.
Partnering up with Tilray, Inc. AB InBev will match the company’s $50 million contribution, bringing the total investment in the partnership to $100 million. Those funds will support research into non-alcoholic cannabis-infused drinks.
Anheuser Busch InBev is a global leader in alcoholic beverages, owning more than 500 brands, including the iconic beer Budweiser. The Busch family sold the company to InBev in 2008 for $52 billion. Ten years later, the company is making its first North American foray into legal cannabis.
Both Tilray and AB InBev will participate in the $100 million research deal through a pair of subsidiaries. AB InBev will participate through Labatt Breweries of Canada, the country’s leading brewer, while Tilray will participate through one of its adult-use subsidiaries, High Park Company.
High Park develops, sells and distributes cannabis brands and products in Canada. Labatt Breweries of Canada President Kyle Norrington said the research project will “guide future decisions about potential commercial opportunities”.
After Uruguay legalized cannabis, 2018 was a major year for North America’s cannabis industry, as Canada implemented its world-historic Cannabis Act in October, legalizing cannabis for adults nationwide.
The partnership will study both THC and CBD beverage infusions. The explosive growth of the hemp CBD market is generating a number of popular trends in the health and wellness industries.
At the same time, THC beverages are part of a rapidly growing segment of the adult-use market geared toward THC products that are not flowered.
Tilray made its debut on the Nasdaq as the first “pure play” cannabis company to list on a U.S. exchange first, it cleared a $1.5 billion IPO.
High Times / ABC Flash Point Business News 2018.
