New York, November 16, 2015 -- Moody's Investors Service said today that Constellation Brands, Inc.'s agreement to acquire San Diego-based craft brewer Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits (not rated) for approximately $1 billion is credit negative although Constellation's Ba1 rating and stable outlook remain unchanged. Moody's anticipates that the additional debt to fund the deal will cause Debt/EBITDA leverage to rise to about 4.3 times (including Moody's adjustments) at the end of the company's fiscal year ending February 2016 from 3.9 times for the LTM ended August 31, 2015. "While this is still below the level we set out as potentially warranting a downgrade, it sets the company back by at least a year relative to our previous expectations for de-leveraging" said Linda Montag, Moody's Senior Vice President. "The large debt financed acquisition comes on the heels of a recently instituted a dividend, and repeated increases to CAPEX to address expected future constraints in its production capacity to keep up with demand for the company's Mexican beers" she added.

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