2007-02-24

Lakeport CEO To Get Bigger Slice

By Steve Arnold
The Hamilton Spectator
(Feb 24, 2007)
Teresa Cascioli's big payday is getting bigger.

Regulatory filings on the planned sale of Hamilton's Lakeport brewery to Labatt show CEO Cascioli will make even more from the deal than originally reported.

The document, a circular outlining why trustees of the income fund which owns the beer plant want to sell show Cascioli will make more than $43.5 million on the sale. Initial reports said she would pocket $40 million from the deal.

Between units she already owns, and those she'll get under Lakeport's incentive plan, Cascioli owns 21.6 per cent of the trust. The Labatt offer of $28 per unit gives her $43.5 million for the years of "sweat equity" she invested in turning the once bankrupt brewer into a player with 10 per cent of Ontario's drink-at-home market.

The announcement Labatt would offer $201.4 million for the Hamilton plant capped a month of intense negotiation for Cascioli that started Jan. 5 when Labatt made its first approach with an offer of $26 a unit and ended early in the morning Feb. 1 with the public announcement of the sale.

The fate of the Hamilton plant, and its 200 jobs, remains unclear.

sarnold@thespec.com 905-526-3496

Used with permission from The Hamilton Spectator, www.thespec.com Copyright The Hamilton Spectator. All rights reserved.