How Modelo Especial became America’s No. 1 beer
US antitrust | Luck plays a big and often unacknowledged part in a company’s success. Constellation Brands struck it lucky twice in the past 30 years: first in 1996, when Grupo Modelo awarded them an evergreen contract to import Corona Extra into the US; then in 2013 after trustbusters at the US Department of Justice forced a settlement on AB-InBev during its takeover of Grupo Modelo, which turned Constellation into an independent, fully integrated, and economically viable beer industry competitor.