Earlier this month, Constellation Brands, maker of Corona, Svedka, and Robert Mondavi wines, invested $4 billion in the largest pot corporation in the world, by market cap. The deal expands Constellation’s ownership stake in Canadian Canopy Growth Corp from 9.9 percent to 38 percent and includes warrants to eventually own over 50 percent.
Read MoreLast year, the Nebraska Rural Response Hotline, which connects farmers and ranchers with legal, financial, and mental health services, set four monthly records for the number of new callers in financial distress. This spike reflects the broader hardship facing rural Americans in the midst of what some are calling the new farm crisis.
Read MoreLast week, Mars, the company best known for brands like Snickers, Skittles, and Wrigley’s gum, purchased AniCura, a network of 200 animal hospitals spanning seven European countries.
Read MoreLast week, Canada’s Aurora Cannabis Inc. announced plans to purchase rival medical marijuana grower, MedReleaf for $2.5 billion, the biggest ever deal in the legal cannabis industry. This follows a wave of consolidation in Canadian cannabis as the country prepares to become the first G7 nation to legalize recreational marijuana nationally as early as this summer.
Read MoreLast week, Walmart announced plans to sell its U.K. subsidiary Asda to rival British grocery chain Sainsbury’s. The proposed deal would create the largest grocery store chain in British history, with more than 31 percent of the market in the hands of one company. It would put even more pressure on farmers and food suppliers, and threaten 330,000 employees with job losses.
Read MoreA growing number of American ranchers are calling on the Trump Administration to block a Brazilian corporation’s plan to take over America’s fourth largest meatpacker. They say the deal would worsen monopolization in the sector and further harm the livelihoods of American farmers and ranchers.
Read MoreIn the fall of 2016, the German drug, seed, and crop chemicals conglomerate Bayer announced plans to merge with the U.S. chemical and bio-tech seed giant Monsanto. Hoping to overcome objections from European anti-trust regulators, Bayer is promising to sell off its vegetable seed business to BASF, a German corporation that is currently the largest chemical maker in the world.
Read MoreWhen Bayer first announced its plan to purchase Monsanto, most observers focused on how much power the two corporations already wield over agricultural inputs like seeds and pesticides. But Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s top antitrust enforcer, appears also to be focusing on how much control a combined Bayer-Monsanto would have over the data generated from private farms.
Read MoreThere have been at least 33 acquisitions of restaurant brands with more than 10 locations this year. Some of the highest profile acquisitions came from private equity and investment firms, who are already major owners in the restaurant sector.
Read MoreOn November 20, wine and spirits distributors Breakthru Beverage and Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) announced that they plan to merge. The two companies are the second- and third-largest distributors, and would together have nearly a 60% market share. Experts say continued consolidation in distribution means less leverage for small retailers, and an uphill struggle for small wineries seeking distribution contracts.
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