Excerpts: First Beverage Group

• John initially developed a strong interest in beverages during his college summers in Minnesota where he drove a beer truck for a Grain Belt distributor and then was a bartender at a leading local bar and restaurant. John is an investment banking veteran with over thirty years of experience in the consumer products sectors including, food, beverage, tobacco, wine, spirits, beer, luxury goods, apparel, household products, personal care and consumer durables.
• Prior to joining First Beverage , he was Managing Director of the consumer products and services group of Peter J. Solomon Company (PJSC) where he worked on a broad range of transactions including representing Enjoy Beer in its acquisition of Abita , E&J Gallo in its sale of Hornsby’s, VMG in its sale of Natural Balance, Dolan in its recapitalization and the London Stock Exchange Group in its acquisition of Russell Asset Management.
• Before PJSC, John worked at Lazard & Co. for six years as a Managing Director covering the consumer products sector. Prior to that, he was Managing Director of investment banking services at Goldman Sachs & Co., Co-Head of the global consumer/retail investment banking group at J.P. Morgan & Co., Partner in the Private Equity and M&A group at The Lodestar Group , and Vice President of the M&A group at Goldman Sachs & Co.
• John is a Director of the Union Land & Grazing Company and a member of the Investment Committee of the Bennington College Board of Trustees. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA in political economy from Bennington College.

Source: First Beverage