I'm gobsmacked. Business news site Bloomberg predicted before the sale that Ballast Point's 2015 sales volume would grow to 4 million cases (slabs), double 2014's. Even if the brewer averages US $15 net profit per case, a very generous assumption, it would take 17 years to repay the purchase, well over 20 if discounting is figured in.
So I'll conclude that Constellation feels the brand name is worth more than all but a few US craft brew brands, and expects to make a major expansion, brewing somewhere. They mean to grab space.
On a recent revisit to the US after 5 years away, I was gladdened to see how many pubs (in NYC, Woodstock, New Jersey and Iowa City, Iowa) carried on tap and in bottles a range of brands that are still independent of the conglomerates, but the war for shelf and tap space will continue.