UK – Brewdog, the world’s most prominent craft beer company, has raised £30.2m (about US$42m) in an online-only equity crowdfunding round dubbed “Equity For Punks Tomorrow”.
According to the maker of Punk IPA beer, the funding was raised from a crowd of 73,802 investors which it refers to as “Equity Punks”.
The latest investment round (which BrewDog says is the final round) brings the number of investors in BrewDog to over 200,000 Equity Punks in total.
“Thanks to everyone involved in the project for making it such a world-record breaking success! Every single penny invested goes directly into high impact sustainability initiatives,” said James Wyatt, BrewDog Co-founder and CEO.
Equity For Punks is a form of financial promotion which is approved by a FCA-regulated entity, but managed by the company seeking to raise funds.
Nicola Horton, formerly a corporate finance partner at Crowe Clark Whitehill who has advised BrewDog on the fundraising, explains that given the associated costs of raising money through venture capitalists, a couple of million pounds on an alternative investment market is far more cost-effective.
To BrewDog, raising funds for itself was way cheaper compared to sourcing from venture capitalists “where you are going to have to give up a significant portion of your business,” notes Whitehall.
By investing in BrewDog, investors are promised benefits like beer on their birthday, sustainably sourced T-shirts and accessories and invitations to exclusive events, lifetime discounts in BrewDog bars or their own tree planted in the BrewDog forest.
Larger investments in the Scotland –based craft brewer will grant you benefits like special edition drinks, free meals and notebooks.
BrewDog makes IPO progress with naming of new chairman
Earlier, BrewDog appointed former Asda boss Allan Leighton as non-executive chair, in the latest sign that the Scottish beer brand is moving closer to a public listing on the stock market.
Mr Leighton is also chairman of the Co-operative Group and a former chief executive of jewelry brand Pandora.
He steps into the shoes of Blythe Jack, the managing director of BrewDog investor TSG Consumer Partners, who took on the chairperson role at the brewer on an interim basis earlier this year.
According to a statement from the craft beer maker, Jack will remain on the board as deputy chairperson.
The appointment of a fully independent chair aligns the business with the UK Corporate Governance Code, which it will need to meet if it wants to go public.
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