Item 1. Business.

Introduction

We are an international producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, Italy and Canada with powerful, consumer-connected, high-quality brands like Corona, Modelo Especial, Robert Mondavi, Kim Crawford, Meiomi and SVEDKA Vodka. In the U.S., we are the number one sales growth driver at retail among beverage alcohol suppliers. We are the third-largest beer company in the U.S. market and a leading, higher-end wine company in the U.S. market. Many of our products are recognized as leaders in their respective categories. This, combined with our strong market positions, makes us a supplier of choice to many of our customers, who include wholesale distributors, retailers and on-premise locations.

Our vision is to elevate life with every glass raised and our mission is to build brands that people love. We are committed to brand building, our trade partners, the environment, our investors and to consumers around the world who choose our products when celebrating big moments or enjoying quiet ones.

Our key values are:


•	people;


•	customer focus;


•	entrepreneurship;


•	quality; and


•	integrity.

The Company is a Delaware corporation incorporated on December 4, 1972, as the successor to a business founded in 1945. We have approximately 9,800 employees located primarily in the U.S. and Mexico, with our corporate headquarters located in Victor, New York. We conduct our business through entities we wholly own as well as through a variety of joint ventures and other entities.

Strategy

Our overall strategy is to drive industry-leading growth and shareholder value by building brands that people love when celebrating big moments or enjoying quiet ones. We position our portfolio to benefit from the consumer-led trend toward premiumization, which we believe will continue to result in faster growth rates in the higher-end of the beer, wine and spirits categories.

To capitalize on premiumization trends, become more competitive and grow our business, we have generally employed a strategy focused on a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, with a focus on the higher-margin, higher-growth categories of the beverage alcohol industry. Key elements of our strategy include:


•	leveraging our leading position in total beverage alcohol and our scale with wholesalers and retailers to expand distribution of our product portfolio and to provide for cross promotional opportunities;


•	strengthening relationships with wholesalers and retailers by providing consumer and beverage alcohol insights;


•	investing in brand building and innovation activities;


•	positioning ourselves for success with consumer-led products that identify, meet and stay ahead of evolving consumer trends and market dynamics;


•	realizing operating efficiencies through expanding and enhancing production capabilities and maximizing asset utilization; and


•	developing employees to enhance performance in the marketplace.

In the beer business, we have solidified our position in the U.S. beer market; enhanced our margins, results of operations and operating cash flow; and provided new avenues for growth. We have made capital investments and acquisitions to increase beer production capacity to secure independence from a supply standpoint and to support the growth of the business. Additionally, in an effort to more fully compete in growing sectors of the high-end segment of the U.S. beer market, we’ve made several acquisitions of high-quality, regional craft beer brands and leveraged our innovation capabilities to introduce new brands that align with consumer trends.

In our wine and spirits business, as part of our efforts to focus on higher-end brands, improve margins and create operating efficiencies, we have acquired higher-margin, higher-growth wine brands and portfolios of brands, including Meiomi, Prisoner and Charles Smith, and have strategically optimized the value of this business, particularly lower-margin, lower-growth products, with the divestiture of the Canadian wine business and the expected transaction, which was recently announced, to divest a portion of our wine and spirits business. In addition, we have added higher-end brands to our spirits portfolio through the acquisitions of Casa Noble tequila and High West craft whiskeys.

Within our Corporate Operations and Other segment, we complemented our total beverage alcohol strategy in an adjacent category by making investments in Canopy, a world-leading, diversified cannabis company. These investments are consistent with our long-term strategy to identify, meet and stay ahead of evolving consumer trends and market dynamics, and they represent a significant expansion of our strategic relationship to position Canopy as a global leader in cannabis production, branding, intellectual property and retailing.

For further information on our strategy, see Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations under Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“MD&A”).

Investments and Acquisitions

In connection with our strategy outlined above, we completed the following investments and acquisitions during Fiscal 2019:



Transaction	Date	Strategic Contribution
Corporate Operations and Other Segment
Canopy Growth Corporation investments	November 2018 and June 2018	Investment in Ontario, Canada-based public company; leading provider of medicinal and recreationally legal cannabis products; supported our long-term strategy to identify, meet and stay ahead of evolving consumer trends and market dynamics.
Beer Segment
Four Corners acquisition	July 2018	Portfolio of high-quality, dynamic and bicultural, Texas-based craft beers; strengthened our position in the high-end segment of the U.S. beer market.

For further information about our Fiscal 2019, Fiscal 2018 and Fiscal 2017 transactions, refer to (i) MD&A and (ii) Notes 2, 7 and 10 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Notes to the Financial Statements”).

Business Segments

We report our operating results in three segments: (i) Beer, (ii) Wine and Spirits, and (iii) Corporate Operations and Other. The business segments reflect how our operations are managed, how resources are allocated, how operating performance is evaluated by senior management and the structure of our internal financial reporting. We report net sales in two reportable segments, as follows:



	For the Year Ended February 28, 2019		% of Net Sales		For the Year Ended February 28, 2018		% of Net Sales		For the Year Ended February 28, 2017		% of Net Sales
(in millions)
Beer	$	5,202.1	64.1	%	$	4,660.4	61.5	%	$	4,227.3	57.7	%
Wine and Spirits:
Wine	2,532.5		31.2	%	2,556.3		33.7	%	2,732.7		37.4	%
Spirits	381.4		4.7	%	363.6		4.8	%	361.1		4.9	%
Total Wine and Spirits	2,913.9		35.9	%	2,919.9		38.5	%	3,093.8		42.3	%
Consolidated Net Sales	$	8,116.0			$	7,580.3			$	7,321.1

Beer Segment

We are the leader in the high-end segment of the U.S. beer market, which includes the imported, craft, domestic super premium, and alternative beverage alcohol categories. We sell a number of brands in the high-end categories, driven largely by our imported Mexican beer portfolio.

Within the imported beer category, we have the exclusive right to import, market and sell these Mexican beer brands in all 50 states of the U.S.:



Corona Brand Family	Modelo Brand Family	Other Import Brands
● Corona Extra ● Corona Premier ● Corona Familiar ● Corona Light	● Modelo Especial ● Modelo Negra ● Modelo Chelada	● Pacifico ● Victoria

In the U.S., we are the leading imported beer company and have eight of the 15 top-selling imported beer brands. Corona Extra is the best-selling imported beer and the sixth best-selling beer overall in the U.S. and Modelo Especial is the second-largest and the fastest-growing major imported beer brand.

Since the June 2013 acquisition of the imported beer business, we have more than tripled our production capacity in Mexico from 10 million to approximately 34 million hectoliters. Our current production capacity provides us the opportunity to further expand our leadership position in the high-end segment of the U.S. beer market by increasing our investment behind on-trend innovation. As part of these efforts, we successfully introduced Corona Premier, a lower-calorie, lower-carbohydrate product offering, which has become one of the top growth contributors in the high-end segment of the U.S. beer market. For Fiscal 2020, we are launching Corona Refresca nationally to capitalize on the growth of the high-end alternative beverage alcohol category. Additionally, we are continuing efforts focused on increasing sales distribution of products in can, draft, single-serve and larger package size formats.

Expansion and construction efforts continue under our Mexico Beer Expansion Projects. Since the June 2013 acquisition of the imported beer business, we have invested approximately $3.5 billion for the Mexico Beer Expansion Projects, with approximately $600 million during Fiscal 2019. To align with our anticipated future

growth expectations, we are targeting an additional 10 million hectoliters of production capacity expansion activities to be completed over the next four fiscal years.

Our craft and specialty beer products are primarily sold under the Ballast Point brand. Ballast Point is led by its popular Sculpin IPA. In addition, the Funky Buddha and Four Corners acquisitions allow us to leverage our craft beer platform, capitalizing on the growth of high-quality, regional craft beer brands. Overall, our craft and specialty beer capabilities further strengthen our position as the leader in the high-end segment of the U.S. beer market.

Wine and Spirits Segment

We are a leading, higher-end wine and spirits company in the U.S. market, with a portfolio that includes higher-margin, higher-growth wine and spirits brands. Our wine portfolio is supported by grapes purchased from independent growers, primarily in the U.S., New Zealand and Chile, and vineyard holdings in the U.S., New Zealand and Italy. Our wine produced in the U.S., New Zealand and Italy is primarily marketed in the U.S. In addition, we export our wine products to Canada and other major world markets. Our spirits offerings include SVEDKA Vodka, which is imported from Sweden and is the largest imported vodka brand in the U.S. Our higher-end spirits brands include Casa Noble tequila and High West craft whiskeys.

In the U.S., we have 18 of the 100 top-selling wine brands. Some of our well-known wine and spirits brands, and portfolio of brands, sold in the U.S., which comprised our Fiscal 2019 U.S. Focus Brands (“Focus Brands”), included:



Wine Brands			Wine Portfolio of Brands	Spirits Brands
● 7 Moons	● Mark West	● Robert Mondavi	● Charles Smith	● Casa Noble
● Black Box	● Meiomi	● Ruffino	● Prisoner	● High West
● Clos du Bois	● Mount Veeder	● Schrader		● SVEDKA Vodka
● Franciscan Estate	● Nobilo	● Simi
● Kim Crawford	● Ravage	● The Dreaming Tree

We dedicate a large share of sales and marketing resources to our Focus Brands as they represent a majority of our U.S. wine and spirits revenue and profitability, and generally hold strong positions in their respective price categories.

We have been increasing resources in support of on-trend product innovation as we believe this is one of the key drivers of overall beverage alcohol category growth. In wine, we have launched varietal line extensions behind many of our Focus Brands, such as Bourbon Barrel Aged Robert Mondavi Private Selection and Meiomi Rosé, and we have introduced newer brands like Derange, Spoken Barrel, Cooper & Thief and Crafters Union. In spirits, we have introduced Mi CAMPO tequila.

In connection with our efforts to increase focus on higher-margin, higher-growth brands, in April 2019, we entered into a definitive agreement to sell a portion of our wine and spirits business, including approximately 30 lower-margin, lower-growth wine and spirits brands, wineries, vineyards, offices and facilities, for approximately $1.7 billion, subject to certain closing adjustments. The Wine and Spirits Transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals (see “Recent Developments” in MD&A and Note 23 of the Notes to the Financial Statements).

Corporate Operations and Other

The Corporate Operations and Other segment includes traditional corporate-related items including costs of executive management, corporate development, corporate finance, corporate growth and strategy, human resources, internal audit, investor relations, legal, public relations and information technology, as well as our investments in Canopy and those made through our corporate venture capital function.

Further information regarding net sales, operating income and total assets of each of our business segments and information regarding geographic areas is set forth in Note 22 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.

Marketing and Distribution

To focus on their respective product categories, build brand equity and increase sales, our segments employ full-time, in-house marketing, sales and customer service functions. These functions engage in a range of marketing activities and strategies, including market research, consumer and trade advertising, price promotions, point-of-sale materials, event sponsorship, on-premise promotions and public relations. Where opportunities exist, particularly with national accounts in the U.S., we leverage our sales and marketing skills across the organization.

In the U.S., our products are primarily distributed by wholesale distributors, with generally separate distribution networks utilized for (i) our beer portfolio and (ii) our wine and spirits portfolio, as well as state alcohol beverage control agencies. As is the case with all other beverage alcohol companies, products sold through these agencies are subject to obtaining and maintaining listings to sell our products in that agency’s state. State governments can affect prices paid by consumers of our products through the imposition of taxes or, in states in which the government acts as the distributor of our products through an alcohol beverage control agency, by directly setting the retail prices.

Trademarks and Distribution Agreements

Trademarks are an important aspect of our business. We sell products under a number of trademarks, which we own or use under license. Throughout our segments, we also have various licenses and distribution agreements for the sale, or the production and sale, of our products and products of third parties. These licenses and distribution agreements have varying terms and durations.

Within the Beer segment, we have an exclusive sub-license to use trademarks related to our Mexican beer brands in the U.S. This sub-license agreement is perpetual. Prior to our June 2013 acquisition of the imported beer business, Crown Imports had exclusive importation agreements with the suppliers of certain imported beer products and had an exclusive renewable sub-license to use certain trademarks related to the imported beer brands in the U.S.

Competition

The beverage alcohol industry is highly competitive. We compete on the basis of quality, price, brand recognition and distribution strength. Our beverage alcohol products compete with other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for consumer purchases, as well as shelf space in retail stores, restaurant presence and wholesaler attention. We compete with numerous multinational producers and distributors of beverage alcohol products, some of which have greater resources than we do. Our principal competitors include:



Beer	Anheuser-Busch InBev, Molson Coors, Heineken, Pabst Brewing Company, The Boston Beer Company, Mark Anthony

Wine	E. & J. Gallo Winery, The Wine Group, Trinchero Family Estates, Treasury Wine Estates, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, Jackson Family Wines

Spirits	Diageo, Beam Suntory, Brown-Forman, Sazerac Company, Pernod Ricard

Production

Our current production capacity in Mexico at our Nava and Obregon breweries is approximately 34 million hectoliters. Prior to the acquisition of the Obregon Brewery, we entered into a three-year interim supply agreement with Modelo in June 2013, which was initially extended for one additional year through June 2017. However, the purchase of the Obregon Brewery enabled us to become fully independent from this interim supply agreement, which was terminated at the time of this acquisition. In addition, we are expanding the Obregon Brewery and constructing the Mexicali Brewery, located near California, which is our largest imported beer market in the U.S.

Based on our anticipated future growth expectations, we intend to expand our production capacity in Mexico to approximately 44 million hectoliters over the next four fiscal years.

Our craft beer production requirements are primarily fulfilled by our Miramar and Daleville facilities, located in the greater San Diego, California, and Roanoke, Virginia, areas, respectively. These facilities can be expanded to accommodate future growth. We also operate multiple tap rooms with smaller scale production and innovation capabilities.

In the U.S., we operate 18 wineries using many varieties of grapes grown principally in the Napa, Sonoma, Monterey and San Joaquin regions of California. We also operate three wineries in New Zealand and six wineries in Italy. Grapes are crushed at most of our wineries and stored as wine until packaged for sale under our brand names or sold in bulk. The inventories of wine are usually at their highest levels during and after the crush of each year’s grape harvest and are reduced prior to the subsequent year’s crush. Wine inventories are usually at their highest levels in September through November in the U.S. and Italy, and in March through May in New Zealand.

Our Canadian whisky requirements are produced and aged at our Canadian distillery in Lethbridge, Alberta. We currently operate two facilities in the U.S. for the production of our High West whiskey brand. The requirements for grains and bulk spirits used in the production of our spirits are purchased from various suppliers.

Certain of our wines and spirits must be aged for more than one year up to multiple years. Therefore, our inventories of wines and spirits may be larger in relation to sales and total assets than in many other businesses.

Sources and Availability of Production Materials

The principal components in the production of our Mexican and craft beer brands include water; agricultural products, such as yeast and grains; and packaging materials, which include glass, aluminum and cardboard.

For our Mexican beer brands, packaging materials represent the largest cost component of production, with glass bottles representing the largest cost component of our packaging materials. For Fiscal 2019, the package format mix of our Mexican beer volume sold in the U.S. was 69% glass bottles, 28% aluminum cans and 3% in stainless steel kegs.

The Nava and Obregon breweries receive water originating from aquifers. We believe we have adequate access to water to support the breweries’ on-going requirements, as well as future requirements after the completion of planned expansion activities.

As part of our efforts to solidify our beer glass sourcing strategy over the long-term, we formed an equally-owned joint venture with Owens-Illinois, the world’s largest glass container manufacturer. The joint venture acquired a state-of-the-art glass production plant that is located adjacent to our Nava Brewery in Mexico, in December 2014. The glass plant currently has four operational glass furnaces and the joint venture intends to increase it to five furnaces by the end of calendar 2019. When fully operational with five furnaces, the glass plant is expected to supply approximately 60% of our glass requirements for the Nava Brewery. We also have long-term glass supply agreements with other glass producers.

The principal components in the production of our wine and spirits products are agricultural products, such as grapes and grain, and packaging materials (primarily glass).

Most of our annual grape requirements are satisfied by purchases from each year’s harvest which normally begins in August and runs through October in the U.S. and Italy, and begins in February and runs through May in New Zealand. We receive grapes from approximately 800 independent growers in the U.S. and approximately 165 independent growers located primarily in New Zealand and Chile. We enter into purchase agreements with a majority of these growers with pricing that generally varies year-to-year and is largely based on then-current market prices.

As of February 28, 2019, we owned or leased approximately 20,500 acres of land and vineyards, either fully bearing or under development, in the U.S., New Zealand and Italy. This acreage supplies only a small percentage of our overall total grape needs for wine production. However, most of this acreage is used to supply a large portion of the grapes used for the production of certain of our higher-end wines. We continue to consider the purchase or lease of additional vineyards, and additional land for vineyard plantings, to supplement our grape supply.

We believe that we have adequate sources of grape supplies to meet our sales expectations. However, when demand for certain wine products exceeds expectations, we look to source the extra requirements from the bulk wine markets around the world.

The distilled spirits manufactured and imported by us require various agricultural products, neutral grain spirits and bulk spirits which we fulfill through purchases from various sources by contractual arrangement and through purchases on the open market. We believe that adequate supplies of the aforementioned products are available at the present time.

We utilize glass and polyethylene terephthalate (“PET”) bottles and other materials such as caps, corks, capsules, labels, wine bags and cardboard cartons in the bottling and packaging of our wine and spirits products. After grape purchases, glass bottle costs are the largest component of our cost of product sold. In the U.S., the glass bottle industry is highly concentrated with only a small number of producers. We have traditionally obtained, and continue to obtain, our glass requirements from a limited number of producers under long-term supply arrangements. Currently, one producer supplies most of our glass container requirements for our U.S. operations. We have been able to satisfy our requirements with respect to the foregoing and consider our sources of supply to be adequate at this time.

Government Regulation

We are subject to a range of laws and regulations in the countries in which we operate. Where we produce products, we are subject to environmental laws and regulations, and may be required to obtain environmental and alcohol beverage permits and licenses to operate our facilities. Where we market and sell products, we may be subject to laws and regulations on brand registration, packaging and labeling, distribution methods and relationships, pricing and price changes, sales promotions, advertising and public relations. We are also subject to rules and regulations relating to changes in officers or directors, ownership or control.

We believe we are in compliance in all material respects with all applicable governmental laws and regulations in the countries in which we operate. We also believe that the cost of administration and compliance with, and liability under, such laws and regulations does not have, and is not expected to have, a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Seasonality

The beverage alcohol industry is subject to seasonality in each major category. As a result, in response to wholesaler and retailer demand which precedes consumer purchases, our beer sales are typically highest during the first and second quarters of our fiscal year, which correspond to the Spring and Summer periods in the U.S. Our wine and spirits sales are typically highest during the third quarter of our fiscal year, primarily due to seasonal holiday buying.

Employees

As of February 28, 2019, we had approximately 9,800 employees. Approximately 4,900 employees were in the U.S. and approximately 4,900 employees were outside of the U.S., primarily in Mexico. We may employ additional workers during the grape crushing seasons. Approximately 21% of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. Collective bargaining agreements expiring within one year are minimal. We consider our employee relations generally to be good.

Executive Officers of the Company

Information with respect to our current executive officers is as follows:



NAME	AGE	OFFICE OR POSITION HELD
Robert Sands	60	Executive Chairman of the Board
Richard Sands	68	Executive Vice Chairman of the Board
William A. Newlands	60	President and Chief Executive Officer
James O. Bourdeau	54	Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
F. Paul Hetterich	56	Executive Vice President and President, Beer Division
Thomas M. Kane	58	Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
David Klein	55	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
James A. Sabia, Jr.	57	Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

Robert Sands is the Executive Chairman of the Board of the Company, having served in that role since March 2019 and as a director since January 1990. Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer of the Company from July 2007 through February 2019. Mr. Sands also served as President from December 2002 to February 2018, as Chief Operating Officer from December 2002 to July 2007, as Group President from April 2000 through December 2002, as Chief Executive Officer, International from December 1998 through April 2000, as Executive Vice President from October 1993 through April 2000, as General Counsel from June 1986 through May 2000 and as Vice President from June 1990 through October 1993. He is the brother of Richard Sands.

Richard Sands, Ph.D., is the Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of the Company, having served in that role since March 2019. He previously served as Chairman of the Board from September 1999 through February 2019. He has been employed by the Company in various capacities since 1979. He has served as a director since 1982. He served as Chief Executive Officer from October 1993 to July 2007, as Executive Vice President from 1982 to May 1986, as President from May 1986 to December 2002 and as Chief Operating Officer from May 1986 to October 1993. He is the brother of Robert Sands.

William A. Newlands is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. He has served as Chief Executive Officer since March 2019 and as President since February 2018. He served as Chief Operating Officer from January 2017 through February 2019 and as Executive Vice President of the Company from January 2015 until February 2018. From January 2016 to January 2017 he performed the role of President, Wine & Spirits Division and from January 2015 through January 2016 he performed the role of Chief Growth Officer. Mr. Newlands joined the Company in January 2015. Prior to that he served from October 2011 until August 2014 as Senior Vice President and President, North America of Beam Inc., as Senior Vice President and President, North America of Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., from December 2010 to October 2011, and as Senior Vice President and President, USA of Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. from February 2008 to December 2010. Beam Inc., a producer and seller of branded distilled spirits products, merged with a subsidiary of Suntory Holding Limited, a Japanese company, in 2014. Prior to October 2011, Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. was the spirits operating segment of Fortune Brands, Inc., which was a leading consumer products company that made and sold branded consumer products worldwide in the distilled spirits, home and security, and golf markets.

James O. Bourdeau has served as the Company’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel since December 2017 and as the Company’s Secretary since April 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Bourdeau was the Company’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Corporate Development, having performed that role from September 2014 until December 2017. Before joining the Company in September 2014, Mr. Bourdeau was an attorney with the law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP from July 2000 through September 2014, and a partner from February 2005 through September 2014. Mr. Bourdeau was associated with another law firm from 1995 to 2000.

F. Paul Hetterich has been an Executive Vice President of the Company since June 2003. Since January 2016 Mr. Hetterich has performed the role of President, Beer Division and President of Crown Imports LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. From January 2015 through January 2016 he performed the role of Executive Vice President, Corporate Development & Beer Operations. From June 2011 until January 2015 he

served as Executive Vice President, Business Development and Corporate Strategy, from July 2009 until June 2011 he served as Executive Vice President, Business Development, Corporate Strategy and International, and from June 2003 until July 2009 he served as Executive Vice President, Business Development and Corporate Strategy. From April 2001 to June 2003 Mr. Hetterich served as the Company’s Senior Vice President, Corporate Development. Prior to that, Mr. Hetterich held several increasingly senior positions in the Company’s marketing and business development groups. Mr. Hetterich has been with the Company since 1986.

Thomas M. Kane joined the Company in May 2013 as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. Mr. Kane previously served as Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Government Relations of Armstrong World Industries, Inc., a global producer of flooring products and ceiling systems, from February 2012 to May 2013, he served as its Senior Vice President, Human Resources from August 2010 to February 2012 and served as its Chief Compliance Officer from February 2011 to February 2012. Prior to that, Mr. Kane served as Global Vice President, Human Resources for Black & Decker Power Tools, a manufacturer of power and hand tools, from 2002 to 2010. From 1999 to 2002 Mr. Kane served as Global HR leader of GE Specialty Materials, a large manufacturer of silicone products.

David Klein has been the Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since June 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Klein served as the Company’s Senior Vice President Finance, Beer Division, having held that position from May 2014 until June 2015. He served as the Company’s Senior Vice President and Treasurer from April 2009 to July 2014 and assumed the additional responsibilities of Controller in October 2013, also serving in that role to July 2014. From March 2007 to March 2009 Mr. Klein served as chief financial officer for the Company’s former United Kingdom operations. Mr. Klein joined the Company in 2004 as Vice President of Business Development.

James A. Sabia, Jr. has been the Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer since May 2018. Prior to that, Mr. Sabia was the Chief Marketing Officer of the Company’s Beer Division, having performed that role from February 2009 through May 2018. From February 2009 to June 2013, Mr. Sabia was employed by Crown Imports LLC (“Crown”), of which the Company owned a 50% interest and was the Company’s beer business during that period. Effective June 7, 2013, the Company acquired the remaining 50% of Crown, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company on that date. Mr. Sabia originally joined the Company in August 2007 as Vice President, Marketing for the Company’s spirits business, serving in that capacity until February 2009. Before that, Mr. Sabia was with Molson Coors Brewing Company, a large international brewing company, from 1990 to 2007.

Executive officers of the Company are generally chosen or elected to their positions annually and hold office until the earlier of their removal or resignation or until their successors are chosen and qualified.