US-based Tilray Brands has purchased the Scottish brewer BrewDog in a pre-pack administration transaction for just GBP33m (US$44.5m).
The deal, announced today (2 March), includes the global rights to the BrewDog brand name, UK brewing operations and 11 ‘BrewPub’ on-premise outlets. Tilray said it was “separately negotiating to acquire certain BrewDog assets in the US and Australia”, including bars in Las Vegas and Ohio.
The remaining bars will be sold or closed, which, according to trade union Unite, “would result in 38 bars closing and the loss of 484 jobs, some with immediate effect”.
New York-headquartered Tilray said the transaction “presents a significant opportunity for growth in the UK and previously untapped international markets”. The brand will be led at Tilray by international president Rajnish Ohri, who joined the NASDAQ-listed company last year.
Speaking to analysts on a call from Scotland today, CEO Irwin Simon said he “feels good” about the deal, which is “both a strategic and financial win for Tilray”.
Asked about the condition of the business’s finances and “what went wrong” for BrewDog – following news of its structural review last month, followed by job cuts, the cessation of its distilling operations in January and bar closures last year – Simon said “the fundamentals are still very strong”, but “in regards to sales, where they got off track in my opinion is … I don’t think ‘BrewPubs’ were the right way to go.”
He said the company had close to 60 outlets “at one stage”. Tilray will “end up with about 13”, and the remainder “will not be part of this deal”.
“From a financial perspective, BrewDog represents a compelling transaction and win for our shareholders,” Simon said. “As a result of licensed transfer timelines from the administrator to us, we expect minimal impact for brewing operations on the revenue and EBITDA side in our fourth quarter.
“Beginning fiscal year 2027, BrewDog is expected to generate approximately $200m in annual revenue, split 67% for brewing operations and 33% for brewpub operations … . We expect the acquisition to be accretive, with the business becoming cash-flow positive, beginning in the first quarter of 2027.
“This is a playbook we have successfully executed across our global platform, and it is a proven, repeatable model.”
Last month, Carlsberg handed Tilray the brewing rights for several of its brands in the US.
