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Black Velvet owner sells Canadian wine business

Oct 18, 2016 | 9:09 AM

VICTOR, N.Y. — The company that makes Black Velvet whisky in Lethbridge has sold its Canadian wine business.

Constellation Brands, Inc. and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan have reached a deal worth approximately $1.03 billion, which includes Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin and other Canadian wine brands, wineries and other facilities, and the Wine Rack retail chain. Regulators must still approve the deal.

At the same time the company is buying a U.S.-based wine collection. It says it’s focusing on “premium, high margin and high growth brands.”

Constellation says it will continue to own the Black Velvet whisky brand and the Lethbridge plant that makes it.