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NEW YORK (AP) – One of the largest tobacco companies in the world is diving into the cannabis market with a $ 1.8 billion buy-in.
Marlboro's Altria Group Inc. is taking a 45% stake in the Cronos group, the Canadian medical and recreational marijuana supplier announced Friday.
The agreement includes a warrant to acquire additional shares over the next four years, which could give Altria, whose head office is in Richmond, Virginia, a stake of 55 % in Toronto society.
This would mean that Altria's investments would be in line with the $ 4 billion spent earlier this year by Constellation Brands to acquire shares of Canopy Growth Corp., another Canadian pot producer.
The August investment by Constellation, which makes Corona and other beverages, was the largest ever by a major US cannabis company.
Regardless of the hesitation that large US companies had about entering the cannabis market, they seem to faint if there is a financial justification.
Altria's huge investment has illuminated the shares of cannabis companies that have begun to settle in Canada, where recreational use has been legalized this year.
Negotiated US shares of Cronos Group Inc. jumped 22% on Friday.
The rapid growth of the cannabis market is expected to continue as legalization develops in the United States and social norms change. On Tuesday, Utah, an ultra-conservative, became the latest state to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
Consumers are expected to spend $ 57 billion a year in the world of legal cannabis by 2027, according to Arcview Market Research, a cannabis-focused investment company. In North America, this spending is expected to increase from $ 9.2 billion in 2017 to $ 47.3 billion in 2027.
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