BrewDog eyes Equity for Punks Five to bridge £90m funding gap

The brewery’s co-founder James Watt told Equity For Punks investors that the additional funding was needed to meet its aims of becoming a £5bn company in the next five years.

Posting a blog on its website, Watt said that the brewery needed a total of £180m to fund ongoing and planned future projects - £90m of this funding will come from the investment made in the brewery by private equity firm TSG​ earlier this year.

“Our plan is to try to turn BrewDog into a £5bn company in five years,” Watt wrote. “This is an insane target. It will require a hell of a lot of hard work, plenty of fair winds, a few crazy gambles and a huge amount of capital investment in big projects.”

Among the brewery’s planned projects are: further expansion at its site in Ellon, Aberdeen, building a hotel and sour beer facility in the US, building new breweries in China and Australia and opening brewpubs in its top 10 export markets over the next two years.

Watt told investors that it was unlikely Equity for Punks Five would raise £90m, and the brewery would seek to bridge the gap in funding through bank financing.

“Our plans are full on, but we have amazing momentum, a brilliant team and an outstanding Equity Punk community,” he continued. “We want to build a brilliant and enduring business. We want to redefine beer and we want to create a whole new blueprint for a socially responsible 21st-century business.

“Becoming a £5bn company is a pretty crazy target. But we have a habit of hitting crazy targets.”

BrewDog’s last round of Equity For Punks fell well short of its £25m target last year, raising a total of £19m.

Last month, the Scottish brewery announced it would be giving away 20% of its profits every year, with 10% going to charity.​

Ten per cent of the company’s profits will be shared equally among its staff, while the other 10% will go to charities chosen by the brewery’s 1,000-strong workforce and 57,000 Equity Punk investors.

If the brewery meets its projected targets, it will give away in excess of £45m in the next five years.