First Beverage Group Hires John Sheldon to Lead Investment Banking Group

First Beverage Group

Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY – First Beverage Group today announced that John Sheldon has joined its team as president of First Beverage Financial, the company’s investment banking division. Mr. Sheldon, who most recently was managing director of the consumer products and services group of Peter J. Solomon Company (PJSC), brings 33 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings and strategic partnerships. Mr. Sheldon will be based in New York City.

Prior to joining First Beverage, Mr. Sheldon worked at PJSC on a broad range of transactions including representing 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, Mr. Sheldon 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 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. Mr. Sheldon received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA in political economy from Bennington College.

“John’s addition to our team is another example of our firm’s ability to attract highly driven and talented financial and beverage industry experts,” said William Anderson, founder and CEO of First Beverage. “John’s many years in investment banking and his passion for the beverage industry will further allow us to deliver best-in-class strategic alternatives to our clients. We are extremely pleased to have him on board.”

“John’s broad beverage experience and business acumen is a significant addition to the strong First Beverage investment banking team,” said James Bareuther, First Beverage Group’s chairman. “First Beverage’s proven ability to enable companies to achieve their strategic growth objectives will be greatly enhanced by John’s leadership.”

“First Beverage has established an unparalleled reputation for creativity, excellence in execution, and for consistently achieving superior outcomes for its clients,” said Sheldon. “The firm has developed the leadership position as the strategic financial advisor to beverage companies and beverage entrepreneurs, and its unique combination of operating, distributing, strategic and financial expertise enables it to advise its clients more effectively than other advisors. I am delighted to join the First Beverage team.”

About First Beverage Group

First Beverage Group is a full-service financial services firm dedicated exclusively to the beverage industry. First Beverage provides a comprehensive range of products, including investment banking and investment funds for growth capital to leading beverage entrepreneurs and operators. Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Boston and New York, the First Beverage team is made up of senior executives with over 200 years of beverage industry experience. For more information, please visit the company’s website, www.firstbeveragegroup.com.