Standard&Poor's Rating Services said today there would be no impact on Constellation Brands' rating or outlook (BB/Negative) following its announcement that it has received approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board of Australia to proceed with its acquisition of Australian wine producer BRL Hardy. Constellation also announced its intention to undertake a secondary offering of its Class A common stock subsequent to the closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur in early April 2003. The secondary offering follows the previously announced offer to BRL Hardy shareholders of up to 15 million shares of Constellation's common stock as part of the acquisition financing. The negative outlook continues to reflect Standard&Poor's expectations of weakened credit measures
