Writing on LinkedIn on Tuesday 8 September, the BrewDog co-founder said tens of thousands of former investors had become co-owners of his recently launched beer venture, Second Best.
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Second Best was launched in May this year, with Watt offering former Equity Punks the opportunity to claim the same percentage stake they previously held in BrewDog, at no cost.
Up to 19.3% of the new business was made available to former investors under the scheme.
Watt has now revealed 57% of the shares allocated to former Equity Punks have since been claimed.
Exceptional beers
He added the milestone meant the focus could now turn from assembling the shareholder base to building the business itself.
“57% of the Equity Punk shares once held in BrewDog have now been claimed in Second Best. Tens of thousands of co-owners. Now it is time to build their beer company,” Watt shared on social media.
“Second Best is built on a simple belief: Your community shouldn’t just appear in your marketing. They should appear on your cap table. But giving people ownership is only the beginning.
“We now need to try and turn that ownership into something worth owning. Exceptional beers, a brilliant business, a company built hand in hand with its community, not simply marketed at them. We have assembled the owners. Now we are going to try and build a company worthy of them.”
Watt co-founded BrewDog with Martin Dickie in 2007 and spent 17 years building the Scottish brewer into an international beer and pub business, stepping down as CEO in 2024.
In March this year, BrewDog was sold to US drinks company Tilray Brands for £33m after entering administration.
Future growth
Watt had attempted to regain control of the business during the administration process, but his initial bid was unsuccessful.
Following the sale, Watt said he wanted Second Best to bring former Equity Punks together as co-owners and potentially use that shareholder base as a vehicle to acquire BrewDog if an opportunity arose in the future.
In July, Second Best formally submitted an offer to Tilray to buy back BrewDog, with Watt stating 43,000 Equity Punks had joined the bid.
However, Tilray chief executive Irwin Simon asserted BrewDog was “not for sale” and would remain part of the group.
Since acquiring the business, Tilray has invested about £50m in BrewDog to stabilise the business and position it for future growth.
BrewDog subsequently contributed more than $50m (£38.5m) to Tilray’s fourth-quarter revenue, published in July.
