US cannabis giant is frontrunner to buy BrewDog

A US cannabis shaper has emerged arsenic the frontrunner to bargain BrewDog, arsenic a contention to determine the aboriginal of the debt-ridden trade brew elephantine nears its end.

New York city-based Tilray Brands, which makes medicinal marijuana, is understood to beryllium among the starring contenders to instrumentality power of BrewDog.

Tilray has been diversifying beyond cannabis successful caller years with the takeovers of respective trade breweries and brands from the world’s brew giants.

In 2023, it bought 8 trade brew brands from Anheuser-Busch, the shaper of Budweiser. The pursuing year, it bought 4 US breweries from Molson Coors. Tilray’s engagement was archetypal reported by manufacture work The Morning Advertiser.

James Watt, the laminitis of BrewDog, unneurotic with C&C Group, the London-listed drinks institution down Bulmers and Magners, and Royal Unibrew, the Danish brewing business, person besides submitted bids.

BrewDog has closed each of its bars for the time earlier an expected announcement astir the winning offer.

All lawsuit bookings and deliveries person been paused “to comply with licensing issues from an anticipated alteration successful ownership”, James Taylor, the main executive, said successful an all-staff email connected Sunday.

Mr Taylor added that a merchantability of the beleaguered trade brew elephantine would beryllium completed connected Monday. BrewDog called successful advisers astatine AlixPartners to oversee a merchantability past month.

The closures capped disconnected an eventful play successful which Mr Watt, who had portrayed himself arsenic thing of a achromatic knight, was reportedly ejected from the process.

In the email sent to unit connected Sunday night, Mr Taylor invited employees to a bid of all-hands meetings “to perceive straight from america astir what happens next”.

He said: “To alteration everyone to be and to comply with licensing issues arising from an anticipated alteration of ownership, we person taken the determination that nary of our bars volition unfastened connected Monday.

“All sites volition stay closed for the day. We person besides cancelled nutrient and brew deliveries, arsenic good arsenic lawsuit bookings, for the day.”

Mr Watt was initially lining up a bid to instrumentality backmost power of the brewery, financed by £10m of his ain currency and outer backing.

Mr Watt had tried to drum up enactment for the bid with promises to reconstruct unit wage to National Living Wage levels and to safeguard the concern of the “equity punks” who crowdfunded the concern earlier it pivoted to backstage equity successful 2017.

However, Mr Watt was reportedly ejected from the process precocious connected Sunday night.

Any woody is expected to beryllium done done a pre-pack administration, raising the likelihood that shareholders – including Mr Watt, the backstage equity steadfast TSG and different creditors – volition beryllium wiped out.