An American consumer packaged goods company has seen off rival bids to buy BrewDog in a pre-pack administration that values the company at a cut-price £33m.
Tilray Brands, which is also in the medicinal cannabis business, will acquire BrewDog’s brands, 18 franchised bars, its brewery at Ellon in Aberdeenshire and its operations in the US and Australia.
The new owner will take on 733 workers in the UK but it will shut 38 bars with the loss of 484 jobs. They include two each in Aberdeen and Glasgow, as well as the Cowgate outlet in Edinburgh, and others in Inverurie, Perth, St Andrews and Stirling.
Rival talks were understood to have been held with Royal Unibrew of Denmark, the Irish group C&C and co-founder James Watt.
AlixPartners, which has been coordinating talks with potential buyers of BrewDog, was appointed as administrators.
Irwin D Simon, chairman and chief executive at Tilray Brands, a Nasdaq-listed company, said: “BrewDog is one of the most iconic, mission-driven craft beer brands in the UK. It helped redefine modern craft beer through bold innovation, fearless creativity and an unwavering commitment to great beer.
“What makes BrewDog truly special has always been its brewers, its brewpubs and its passionate community of beer fans.
“As we begin a new chapter for this great brand, our priority is to refocus BrewDog on the craft beer excellence that made it beloved in the first place and strategically invest to return the operations to profitable growth.
“BrewDog’s future is bright, and we are committed to ensuring the brand continues to lead and inspire the global craft beer movement.”
He added: “Tilray’s management brings operational and strategic expertise, a diversified global beverage infrastructure and a disciplined investment approach needed to unlock BrewDog’s next phase of growth.
“In addition, my team and I have significant experience in the UK market where we previously built an ~ $1.5bn consumer packaged goods business at my prior company with beloved brands, including Ella’s Kitchen, Hartleys, Tilda, New Covent Garden and Linda McCartney.”
Jefferies acted as financial adviser, and Proskauer Rose acted as external legal counsel to Tilray Brands.
The price will come as a huge surprise to those expecting at least a three-figure tag for a company that was once valued at £1 billion. The price may be influenced by BrewDog’s estimated debts, said to be about £800m which may be partly paid off.
BrewDog’s bars were closed today while the deal was being finalised.
Private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners acquired a 21% stake in BrewDog in 2017. Preference shares gave it first claim on sale proceeds.
Its army of ‘punk’ investors, who invested about £75m in the business, will see their investments wiped out.
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