Crowdfunding success story BrewDog have sold a 22.3 percent stake to US equity firm TSG Consumer Partners, valuing the business at over £1 billion.
The Scottish craft brewery, who have raised funds from four previous rounds in its ‘Equity for Punks’ scheme, will plough £100 million of the investment back into the business, with another £100 million being paid out to the brewer’s co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie.
A further £13 million will go towards buying back shares from its earlier investors, who will have the chance to sell up to 15 percent of their shares this week. Founder James Watt recently rejected claims from the UK Crowdfunding Association that investors didn’t fully understand the risks associated with early stage investment:
“Everyone who has invested in earlier rounds, at a much lower equity, will see massive returns. They will do better than any FTSE tracker fund,” he said.
The expanded into the US earlier this year, opening its first US restaurant and bar in Columbus. The 10,000-square-foot eatery and drinkery is at the same location as its 100,000-square-foot US offices and brewery.
BrewDog has growth rapidly in the ten years since its founding in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire in 2007. With a £20,000 bank loan the founders began brewing beer at home, before opening their first pub in Aberdeen in 2010. Last year, the group had revenues of £71million and returned a pre-tax profit of more than £7 million.