Craft beer giant BrewDog temporarily shut its global network of bars on Monday as the company moved to finalise its anticipated sale.
The Scotland-based brewer, renowned for popular craft beers such as Punk IPA and Elvis Juice, has been in a sale process since February, when consultants AlixPartners were brought in to oversee the transaction.
With 72 bars worldwide and four breweries, the closures are understood to be a direct consequence of the imminent change in business control and associated licensing agreements.
The BBC has indicated that an announcement regarding the sale is expected early this week, also reporting that BrewDog's chief executive, James Taylor, communicated with staff via email on Monday.
The email said: “We appreciate this is an unsettling time for everyone and we want to ensure that all colleagues have the opportunity to hear directly from us about what happens next.
“We will therefore be holding a series of company-wide All Hands calls tomorrow (Monday) for all employees across the whole business. These will be scheduled tomorrow.
“To enable everyone to attend, and to comply with licensing issues arising from an anticipated change of ownership, we have taken the decision that none of our bars will open tomorrow (Monday). All sites will remain closed for the day.
“We have also cancelled food and beer deliveries, as well as customer bookings, for that day.”
US brewer and cannabis group Tilray Brands is nearing a deal to buy parts of UK beer business BrewDog after Scottish businessman James Watt reportedly pulled out of the race to buy BrewDog.
BrewDog said it had no comment on Monday.
The potential sale of the business has led to questions from those who have invested in BrewDog through its “equity for punks” scheme.
The company held a number of crowdfunding initiatives up to 2021.
The company, which has 72 bars worldwide and four breweries in Scotland, the US, Australia, and Germany, said its breweries, bars, and venues will continue to operate as normal. It employs 1400 people across the organisation.
BrewDog’s founders James Watt and Martin Dickie are the company's major shareholders alongside private equity company TSG, which invested £213 million in 2017, making it a 21 per cent shareholder.
In 2024, the beer brand grossed £357 million in sales, and it is a major independent brewer with 4 per cent market share in the UK grocery market.
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