Grupo Modelo, Constellation Brands Beer Import Joint Venture, Crown Imports LLC, Operational

03/01/07 Crown Imports LLC, a beer importation and marketing joint venture owned by Grupo Modelo, S. A. de C. V., Mexico's leading company in the brewing, distribution and sale of beer, and Constellation Brands, Inc., a leading international beverage alcohol producer, importer and marketer, announced the joint venture is operational as scheduled. The joint venture will import to the United States the Corona Extra, Corona Light, Negra Modelo, Modelo Especial and Pacifico brands owned by Grupo Modelo, in addition to Tsingtao from China and St. Pauli Girl from Germany. This marks the first time since the 1978 introduction of Grupo Modelo brands into the U.S. that they have been imported and marketed by a single entity.

As previously announced, the Crown Imports LLC joint venture is headquartered in Chicago and will be led by Bill Hackett, formerly president of Constellation's Barton Beers, and it will have a board of directors half from Grupo Modelo and half from Constellation Brands.

In the U.S., Corona Extra is the #1 import beer, Corona Light the #1 light beer import and #7 overall import, Modelo Especial is the #3 imported beer, Pacifico is the #15 import, Negra Modelo #19 and the #1 dark beer import, Tsingtao the #1 Chinese beer import and St. Pauli Girl the #2 German import.