NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) July 1, 2019--S&P Global Ratings said today that its outlook on Constellation Brands Inc.'s (BBB/Stable/A-2) plan to reduce leverage remains unchanged despite a modest delay in the expected $1.7 billion sale of several wine brands to E.&J. Gallo Winery into the second half of calendar 2019. We continue to believe the company will likely use the proceeds from its pending wine divestiture to repay debt in the near term, which--together with continued EBITDA growth--should reduce its leverage below 4x over the next 18-24 months compared with a ratio near 4.5x for the 12-months-ended May 31, 2019. Moreover, we expect Constellation's annual free cash flow to steadily increase and approach $1.5 billion over this
