Bank of the West Commercial Banking Group announced that Perry DeLuca and Peter Hsu, both managing directors, and Tony Bowker, director of business development, have joined the Beverage Group (formerly the Wine and Beverage Group), a specialized unit of the Agribusiness division within the Commercial Banking Group. DeLuca, Hsu and Bowker will report to Adam Beak, managing director and head of the Beverage Group.

Perry DeLuca will divide his time between business development and supporting relationships with current wine clients. He will also focus on further advancing the bank’s advisory activities in the wine sector.

Prior to joining Bank of the West, DeLuca was a senior vice president at Wells Fargo Bank, where he led its Wine, Food & Beverage practice in the Western division. Before that, he worked at Key Banc Capital Markets as director of Consumer Banking national head of Wine and Spirits.

Peter Hsu’s role will leverage his deep banking management background to help effectively channel the team’s resources through a period of continued growth. Previously, Hsu spent more than 18 years with Wells Fargo Bank, where he held roles including regional operating officer and loan team manager for its San Francisco Commercial Banking Office. Most recently, he was regional team lead of its North Coast Regional Commercial Banking Office.

Tony Bowker will focus on building relationships with breweries, distributors and beer clients to identify and support their business banking needs. Most recently as president of Virtue Holdings, Bowker oversaw the acquisition and integration of operations of the company by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Prior to Virtue Holdings, Bowker was chief operating officer and chief financial officer with Goose Island Beer. Bowker has served on the Anheuser-Busch InBev Craft Advisory Board, has a certificate from the Siebel Institute of Brewing Technology.

“In the past year, Bank of the West has strategically built on the success of our wine business by expanding into the beer and spirits sectors,” said Jean-Marc Torre, head of the Commercial Banking Group.

“We’ve more than doubled the size of our Beverage Group and, in bringing Perry DeLuca, Peter Hsu and Tony Bowker aboard, we are even better equipped to offer our clients experienced perspectives and smart solutions from people who know the industry incredibly well.”

“Talented, experienced bankers like Perry, Peter and a business development professional like Tony will provide our clients with truly differentiating levels of expertise and insights about this business,” Adam Beak remarked. “Perry’s roots in the wine world go back for generations, and he has long-standing relationships with people across the industry. Peter is as strong with clients as he is at managing teams, and his contributions will provide a strong foundation of support as we pursue increasing opportunities across the sector. And, Tony’s knowledge and depth of expertise in working with and providing guidance to those in the beer industry will help grow this segment of our Beverage Group.”