Brewdog Faces Job Cuts Following Acquisition by US Cannabis Group

Hundreds of jobs are set to be lost at Brewdog after the Scottish brewing and hospitality company was acquired by a US cannabis and wellness specialist in a deal valued at £33 million. The purchase, which involves the acquisition of Brewdog’s intellectual property, the brewery in Aberdeenshire, a distribution hub located in central Scotland, and eleven pubs across the UK and Ireland, is expected to have significant repercussions for the company.

Although the sale preserves 733 jobs, it will also result in the closure of 38 bars, leading to 484 immediate redundancies. Alix Partners was appointed last month to explore options for the struggling business, which has recorded five consecutive years of losses. Brewdog has taken steps to comply with licensing requirements linked to the change of ownership, including the temporary closure of its bars and cancellation of deliveries and customer bookings.

Irwin Simon, the chief executive of Tilray, the acquiring company, expressed his commitment to focusing on the craft beer excellence that initially made Brewdog popular. He noted that strategic investments will be made to restore the operations to a path of profitable growth.

This acquisition poses a particularly dire outlook for Brewdog’s 220,000 small investors, who collectively contributed £75 million through crowdfunding and are referred to as equity punks. Many of these investors are likely to see their shares effectively wiped out as a result of the transaction, although there are indications that Tilray intends to maintain some benefits for them, such as discounts in the bars.

Tilray, which is listed on Nasdaq and based in New York, operates a diverse portfolio that encompasses cannabis and wellness products along with a growing craft beer and spirits division primarily focused in North America. This division has seen rapid expansion following a partnership with AB InBev in 2023 and additional acquisitions from Molson Coors in 2024.

James Watt, co-founder of Brewdog, had previously considered a bid for the company but his offer was unsuccessful. Both Watt and co-founder Martin Dickie started Brewdog in 2007 in Aberdeenshire, transforming it into one of Europe’s fastest-growing craft beer firms.