Innis & Gunn receives £15m investment offer
The brewery has recommended to its shareholders to consent to the offer from L Catterton, which would give the firm a minority stake in the business.
Innis & Gunn founder and master brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp would remain the largest single shareholder.
The size of the offer from L Catterton values the business at around £58m and reflects the price paid by Innis & Gunn’s crowdfunding community in November 2016, when the brewery raised £2.4m through its first equity crowdfunding campaign, AdventureCapital.
'Unparalleled expertise'
Gunn Sharp said that L Catterton would “strengthen our business with unparalleled expertise in brand building and a deep understanding of global consumer markets”.
““The craft beer category is booming globally, and this is a hugely exciting opportunity at the right time for us to build strongly on the solid foundations that have been laid to double our 2015 turnover by 2018,” he said. “Innovation and quality have been at the heart of Innis & Gunn’s success since day one, and this continues to drive us forward.”
“Aside from providing additional capital to accelerate our growth plans, we believe L Catterton will strengthen our business with unparalleled expertise in brand building and a deep understanding of global consumer markets, sharing our vision and supporting our continued expansion and growth.”
22% rise in turnover
L Catterton is the largest consumer-focused private equity firm in the world. Its portfolio of current and past investments includes Lily’s Kitchen, Wagg, Gant, Pepe Jeans & Hackett, Peloton, Sweaty Betty, Plum Organics, Build-A-Bear Workshop, and more.
Innis & Gunn was founded in Scotland in 2003 and now exports beer to more than 25 countries. The brewer recently reported a 22% increase in its annual group turnover to more than £14.3m in 2016, marking 13 years of consecutive volume growth.
The business is on target to meet its publicly stated goal of £25m in turnover by 2018.
In April of this year, fellow Scottish brewery BrewDog sold a 22% stake to private equity firm TSG Capital Partners
The £213m deal valued the brewery at £1bn and was described by co-founder James Watt as “the opposite of a sell-out”.
