Constellation to Buy Ballast Point for $1 Billion
November 16 2015 - 10:40AM
Dow Jones News
Constellation Brands Inc. agreed to acquire Ballast Point
Brewing & Spirits for roughly $1 billion, adding a craft beer
maker to the alcoholic-beverage company's beer business.
Constellation became one of the largest U.S. beer distributors
in 2013 with its acquisition of U.S. distribution rights for top
import Corona, several other Mexican beers plus a Mexican brewery
for $5.3 billion from Belgium's Anheuser-Busch InBev NV. That deal
stemmed from AB InBev's larger $20.1 billion takeover of Mexico's
Grupo Modelo SAB, in which AB InBev had to divest itself of the
assets to win U.S. regulatory approval.
Constellation Chief Executive Rob Sands said in prepared remarks
on Monday that "along with imports, craft beer is a key driver of
growth and premiumization within the beer industry, with craft
doubling its share of the U.S. beer market in the last five
years."
Constellation's beer business has been a growth driver in recent
quarters, turning in stronger sales growth than its wine and
spirits business.
Ballast Point's 2015 sales are projected at $115 million. The
company is on track to sell more than 4 million cases of beer this
year, more than double its sales volume from 2014.
Ballast Point, which began in 1996 as a small group of home
brewers, has four facilities in the San Diego area, employs more
than 500 workers and sells beer in more than 30 states.
The deal, set to close by year's end, is expected to add between
5 cents a share and 6 cents a share to Constellation's earnings for
the fiscal year ending in February 2017.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 16, 2015 10:25 ET (15:25 GMT)
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