BrewDog acquired by the US firm for £33 million, with 38 bars to close and 484 jobs lost 

The beer-brewing firm BrewDog has been sold to the American company Tilray Brands at a minimal cost of £33 million, and nearly 500 people are rendered redundant. All in all, 38 bars in the UK will be precluded with the deal covering just 11 pubs as well as the brand and brewing operations.

When BrewDog, which in recent years was unable to make a profit, hired administrators to lead a sale, the company that won the bidding battle was Tilray, which owns many other craft brewing companies as well as businesses that operate within the medical cannabis industry.

BrewDog has already ceased business in all its gin and vodka brands in Aberdeenshire this year, and it closed some of the pubs it owned last year in an effort to curb the losses. The loss was also £37 million recorded in the previous year, and this reduced the number of jobs.

After the immediate close of the 38 bars, 484 redundancies will occur; however, 733 positions of employees have been retained in the conditions of the sale, and they will now be employees of Tilray Brands UK. 

Administrator AlixPartners reassured that none of its potential bidders had made an offer that would have saved BrewDog in its whole form. 

The administrators have also confirmed that there would be no payback to any of the equity holders of the business, including the members of the public who invested in BrewDog via the company’s Equity for Punks scheme.

This is because money collected by the sale of equity to fans in this manner was used to expand the business, and it was estimated that it has brought in about £75 million. 

“As one would expect over the past two weeks, we have received significant interest in the BrewDog business from prospective buyers across both the trade and investment communities,” said Clare Kennedy, a managing director at AlixPartners. 

“In Tilray, we have secured a purchaser with a passion for craft brewing who will be an excellent custodian and sponsor of the business in the months and years ahead.

“Having done so, our priority now is to support, to the fullest extent possible, those people who have been made redundant, under, and we would ask operators within the UK leisure sector who are in a position to assist to contact us at any time.”

Irwin D. Simon, the chief executive at Tilray Brands, commented that BrewDog is among the most recognisable mission-driven craft beer companies in the UK. The brewers, BrewDog, Brewpubs and their strong beer lover community have always made it really special.