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TORONTO — The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has agreed to pay $1.03 billion for the Canadian wine business of Constellation Brands, one of the country’s top wine sellers, with seven of market’s Top 20 brands and a network of retail outlets in Ontario.

The deal comes less than two weeks before new rules governing alcohol sales in Ontario — which will make wine available in selected grocery stores — begin to take effect.

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Constellation’s Canadian brands include Inniskillin and Jackson-Triggs; Teachers’ will also continue to distribute the company’s international brands, such as California’s Robert Mondavi and New Zealand’s Kim Crawford, according spokeswoman Deborah Allan.

Jane Rowe, senior vice-president of private capital at Teachers’, said the wine business is an “ideal” addition to the pension fund’s consumer portfolio.

“Constellation delivers stable and predictable cash flows and provides us with an excellent investment platform in this growth industry,” she said in a statement.