The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will buy Constellation Brands Canada, the owner of a chain of 163 wine stores formerly operated by Vincor Canada for $1.03 billion. Constellation’s domestic and international wines include brand names including Inniskillin, Jackson-Triggs, Kim Crawford, Robert Mondavi, Ruffino, Sawmill Creek and Wallaroo Trail. But it is the protected freedom to sell wine widely at retail, a right grandfathered with Vincor and its successors since the introduction of free trade in 1988, that makes the company so unique. Ontario Teachers’ is the largest single-profession pension plan with $171.4 billion in net assets as of Dec. 31, 2015.
