Constellation Brands has reached an agreement to acquire San Diego-based Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits for approzimately $1 billion, according to a company press release. Ballast Point is one of the fastest growing craft beer companies in the U.S., its best sellers being Sculpin IPA and Grapefruit Sculpin IPA. The press release states, “The partnership with Ballast Point provides a high-growth premium platform that will enable Constellation to compete in the fast-growing craft beer segment, further strengthening its position in the highest end of the U.S. beer market.”

Ballast Point was founded in 1996 by homebrewers in the back of a homebrew shop. Ballast Point will continue to operate as a stand-alone company with its existing management team and employees running the day-to-day operations.

“We started this business nearly 20 years ago with a vision to produce great beer that consumers love and to do it the right way,” said Jack White, founder of Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits. “To achieve that vision, we needed to find the right partner. The team at Constellation shares our values, entrepreneurial spirit and passion for beer, and has a proven track record of helping successful premium brands reach the next level of growth and scale.”

Ballast Point had recently begun the process of going public, but that is suddenly history.

“We believe in the vision that Jack and his team have created and we’re excited to welcome Ballast Point, one of the most respected craft brewers in the country, to the Constellation Brands family,” said Rob Sands, chief executive officer, Constellation Brands. “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. Ballast Point has certainly been a key driver of that growth. Their business philosophy and entrepreneurial spirit perfectly align with our culture and we look forward to strengthening our position in the high-end beer segment with what is arguably the most premium major brand in the entire craft beer business.”

Ballast Point is on pace to sell nearly 4 million cases in calendar 2015, which would represent growth of more than 100 percent versus calendar 2014. The company has more than 500 employees and produces beer in four facilities in the San Diego area.

As expected, AB InBev announced that as part of the final agreement to buy SABMiller for $107 billion that SABMiller will sell its 58% share of its venture with Molson Coors to that company for $12 billion.

That deal includes rights to the Miller brand name and gives Molson Coors full control of operations.

The combined company will still need to address regulatory issues in other countries, particularly in China, where SABMiller has a 49% stake in Snow, the world’s biggest selling beer.

“This combination would create the first truly global brewer,” AB InBev CEO Carlos Brito said after the final agreement was announced.

“The transaction would strengthen AB InBev’s position in key emerging regions with strong growth prospects such as Asia, Central and South America, and Africa,” AB InBev said in a statement. “These regions have hugely attractive markets and will be critically important to the future success of the Combined Group.”

The new company will be listed in Belgium, with secondary listings in Johannesburg, Mexico and New York.

Although selling its stake in MillerCoors was seen as vital to clearing the way for the takover, it will also undergo regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. After the announcement, Brewers Association CEO Bob Pease released this statement:

“The Brewers Association, the national trade association for America’s more than 4,000 small and independent breweries, is carefully reviewing the terms of the acquisition announced today by AB InBev and SABMiller, and, in the days ahead, we would urge the Congress and the Department of Justice to closely examine the potential effects on the U.S. marketplace and American consumers of this proposed deal.

“The size and scope of the ABInBev business has many ramifications for the U.S. beer industry, even with the divestiture of the MillerCoors joint venture. The most obvious is that AB InBev is still by far the largest brewer and beer distributor in the United States. It is vital for the continued success of small brewers that we have access to market with an independent and competitive middle distribution tier.

“Over time, ABInBev will have significant new global revenues to invest in the United States if it chooses to do so as a result of this acquisition. The MillerCoors operation will undergo significant changes. AB InBev’s new international footprint and scale give the company greater influence over commodities used in brewing and many other facets of the beer industry that could affect competition in the U.S. market.

“All of these issues – and their potential effect on small brewers, the broader industry and U.S. beer drinkers – must be carefully weighed and scrutinized by antitrust authorities.”