The US-based pharmaceutical company and cannabis giant acquired the BrewDog brand and its intellectual property, the UK brewing operations, and 11 brewpubs in the UK and Ireland as part of a £33m deal.
Overseen by AlixPartners, the procurement will see 38 bars in the UK close with immediate effect, resulting in 484 redundancies.
The transaction also preserved 733 jobs in the UK, where BrewDog employees will follow a TUPE process to become employees of Tilray Brands UK Ltd.
Significant interest
No offer was made at any stage of the sales process, from any prospective bidder, that would have preserved BrewDog in its entirety, according to Alix Partners.
There will be no return to any equity holders, including that granted under the Equity for Punks scheme.
BrewDog’s 18 franchise bars in the UK and internationally continue to operate.
Commenting on the news, AlixPartners managing director Clare Kennedy said: “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.
“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.
Supporting staff
“Having done so, our priority now is to support, to the fullest extent possible, those people whose roles have been made redundant, and we would ask operators within the UK leisure sector who are in a position to assist to contact us at any time.”
Tilray, which is based in New York and describes itself as a “global cannabis and wellness leader”, is also in talks to acquire BrewDog assets in the US and Australia.
However, these will be subject to a separate purchase agreement to be negotiated by the parties and is expected to be finalised in the next 30 days.
Tilray chief executive Irwin D. Simon said the company was focused on growing the BrewDog brand, describing it as “one of the most iconic, mission-driven craft beer brands in the UK”.
BrewDog bars closing with immediate effect:
England (29):
o Basingstoke
o Bath
o Bournemouth
o Bristol – Baldwin Street; Harbourside
o Cambridge
o Cardiff
o Carlisle
o Cheltenham
o Exeter
o London – Soho; Camden Road; Chancery Lane; Clerkenwell; Ealing, Hammersmith; Seething Lane; Tower Bridge; Wandsworth
o Liverpool
o Manchester – DogHouse Manchester; Manchester Outpost
o Milton Keynes
o Newcastle
o Norwich
o Nottingham
o Plymouth
o Reading
o Southampton
Scotland (9):
o Aberdeen – Castlegate; Union Square
o Edinburgh – Cowgate
o Glasgow – Merchant City; Argyle Street
o Inverurie
o Perth
o St Andrews
o Stirling
