BrewDog shut 38 bars, with the loss of 484 jobs, earlier this year, despite the Scottish craft brewer being snapped up by Tilray Brands — which produces medicinal cannabis as well as craft beer in the US — for £33m after falling into administration.
The Aberdeenshire-founded company was once valued at over $1 billion, but posted over £500 million in debts when the takeover was announced.
Read More:
Announcing the scheme, Watt posted a video of himself on social media with a statement, which reads: “Thousands of people trusted me to build a brilliant beer business and create value for them. It was an obligation I took very seriously. And I, for one, am not done with that obligation.
“So today, I am introducing my plan to launch Second Best – a new beer business and an open invitation.
“If you were an Equity Punk investor, I am planning to allocate up to 19.3% of Second Best for you. You can claim the exact stake you once held in BrewDog, for free.
“No catches, no cash required, and your equity in Second Best will always rank alongside my own. You’ll own it. I’ll fund it. And I’ll dedicate myself to building it.
“You’re not shareholders this time. You’re Second Founders. We are going to start small, build from the ground up and focus on making the best versions of we can of our favourite beer styles.
“I am determined to build a world-class beer business that we all collectively own.”
Watt goes on to admit that there’s “no launch date yet” before detailing an “alcohol adjacent concept” that he’ll reveal more on soon.
He concludes that “if we get this right, then the second beer business that we build together might just be the best one.”
Mr Watt, who founded the firm alongside friend Martin Dickie, stepped down as CEO in 2024. Mr Dickie later left BrewDog for personal reasons.
Both are reported to have already made £100m between them – three times Monday’s sale price – by cashing out shares in 2017, when the private equity group TSG bought 22 per cent of the company.
TSG were sold “preference shares”, meaning that when the company was sold, it was the first in the queue to be paid – those in the Equity for Punks scheme were told they would not get any return from the Tilray deal.
BBC News reports that Equity for Punks investors told them they were “cynical” but hoped this meant they were “not going away with nothing”.
The BrewDog scheme was used to raise £75m of in-house crowdfunding, which promised fans of the tipple a chance to “own a slice of the brewery and share in its success and growth.”
Investors were offered perks such as discounts, a free birthday beer and an invite to the company’s AGM.
Their money was said to enable BrewDog to expand into international markets.
Gareth Fitzgerald, who spent £1000 on BrewDog shares, told the outlet he would sign up for the new scheme but was doubtful about whether it would pay off.
He said: “I won’t be buying any of his products, but it would be silly not to sign up.
“19.3% sounds good, but 19.3% of nothing is nothing.”
Meanwhile, Pete Berryman – who invested around £3000 in Equity for Punks on behalf of himself and his sons – said: “It’s a nice idea that potentially we’re not going away with nothing, I’m just wondering what strings are attached.”
Berryman said he would follow up on the proposal despite being “very cynical” and said he “will be checking the small print”.
