Bars close and hundreds lose jobs as US firm buys Brewdog in £33m deal

Brewdog has been bought in a £33m deal by US beverage and medical cannabis company Tilray after the independent brewer and pub group went into administration.

The deal will see the Aberdeenshire-based firm sell its UK brewing operations, brand and 11 pubs. The two firms are still negotiating for a deal on Brewdog's assets in the United States and Australia.

The sale leaves the fate on many of Brewdog's 60 UK pubs uncertain. They stayed closed on Monday while the deal was awaiting confirmation.

Tilray, which already owns several US craft beer brands, described the deal as a significant opportunity for growth in the UK and international markets.

Brewdog announced last month that consultants AlixPartners had been brought in after the firm failed to make a profit in recent years.

The firm, which was founded by friends James Watt and Martin Dickie in 2007, has four breweries and about 100 pubs around the globe.

Chief executive James Taylor has previously told staff in an internal email that the company hoped to announce details of a sale this week.

All Brewdog bars were closed on Monday to enable staff to attend staff meetings and to comply with licensing issues. Online sales were temporarily suspended.

Taylor described the decision as "difficult" and apologised "for the uncertainty this creates".

He said there had been "a great deal of interest" from potential buyers, but that the company's German arm - which includes a brewery and bar in Berlin - would not be included in the sale. It will now be liquidated.

There has been some concern recently about what will happen to the company's small investors in the event of a sale.

In 2009, the firm launched a fundraising scheme called Equity for Punks.

About 200,000 people put money into the scheme, which offered discounts and perks.

The investors typically spent about £500 on shares costing £20 to £30 each, although others invested larger sums.

Before it closed to new investors in 2021, Equity for Punks is said to have raised £75m. This was used to expand the business into an international brand, boasting four breweries and more than 100 bars.

In 2017 a US equity firm TSG Consumer Partners acquired a 22% stake in Brewdog.

But unlike the Equity for Punks' "ordinary" shareholders, TSG was given "preference shares".

That meant that if Brewdog was sold, TSG was first in the queue to get back its investment plus any return owed, possibly leaving little or nothing for small investors.

There is no suggestion the firm has done anything illegal.

Last month, the company halted production of gin and vodka brands at its distillery in Ellon, Aberdeenshire.

Brewdog had announced job cuts across the business in October last year, after posting a £37m loss.

Earlier in 2025 it announced the closure of 10 bars across the UK, including its flagship pub in Aberdeen.

The company currently employs around 1,400 people and as well as the Ellon site, it has breweries in the US, Australia and Germany.

When it was founded in Aberdeenshire the firm portrayed itself as a rebellious challenger to a UK brewing industry it regarded as stuffy and corporate.

But in 2024, the firm faced a backlash after revealing it would no longer hire new staff on the real living wage, instead paying the lower legal minimum wage.

Watt later stood down as chief executive officer and moved to a newly-created position of "captain and co-founder".

Dickie left the company last year, saying that he took the decision for personal reasons.