E-Malt.com News article: Canada: D'Angelo sells interest in Steelback Brewery

Frank D'Angelo, chief executive of Steelback Brewery and its main pitchman, is selling his majority interest in the company to his long-time business partner Barry Sherman, Financial Post reported November 1.

Dr. Sherman, the billionaire owner of privately held Apotex Inc., Canada's largest manufacturer of generic drugs, is installing his 23-year-old son Jonathon as president. The younger Mr. Sherman has been with Steelback and its associate company D'Angelo Brands for about a year after recently graduating from Columbia University in New York.

In an interview yesterday, the flamboyant Mr. D'Angelo said he's still going to be the face of the company and even plans to take French lessons for when the beer is launched in Quebec next year.

"I speak a little bit," joked the 48-year-old Mr. D'Angelo in French. He will continue to have a minority interest in Steelback Brewery and D'Angelo Brands, the company he founded 23 years ago, and will also remain chairman of the two companies.

"I'm not going to suntan the lower part of my abdomen in Florida. I'm still going to be involved in the company," he says.

For the past two years, Steelback has been approached numerous times with offers of a buyout, said Mr. D'Angelo. "We are the fastest growing brand in Ontario and Canada. I'm not totally selling out, this way," he said, about the decision to sell to his partner.

His plan is to not be as hands-on on the operational side as he has been in the past. Mr. D'Angelo was at the helm when Steelback was launched three years ago in Ontario.

Steelback brands include Tiverton Bear Dark Lager, Tiverton Bear Honey Brown and Steelback Red and Silver. D'Angelo Brands include the Cheetah Power Surge Caffeine Free Energy Drink promoted by disgraced Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson.

Mr. D'Angelo made a huge splash earlier this year when Steelback announced it had signed a five-year deal to become the sponsor of the Toronto Grand Prix for a price believed to be $500,000 per year. He also made a bid for a CFL franchise in Ottawa and expressed interest in buying the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.

Along the way his become infamous for some of his many public stunts, among them singing the national anthem in the style of a lounge singer at a Toronto Argonauts game to a cascade of boos from fans. He also gained some negative notoriety when he was charged in June with sexual assault, following allegations from a 21-year-old woman. The matter is still before the courts.

Mr. D'Angelo says he loves being the pitchman for the company and maintains it has worked well for Steelback. "It's been a lot of fun," he said.

With some more time on his hands, he wants to have little more fun. Plans include a major acting part in a large Hollywood production. "I've been asked," he says.

Anybody who has doubts about whether Mr. D'Angelo will still manage to be the face of the company should watch Hockey Night in Canada tomorrow night, he says. "We've got some new commercials. I will be in them."


02 November, 2007