BrewDog co-founder James Watt is putting the finishing touches on a potential rescue deal to buy back the lossmaking craft brewery, according to reports this weekend.
Watt, who started BrewDog with Martin Dickie in 2007, is said to be negotiating financing from external investors to back his bid for the ailing company.
A deal would include £10m of Watt’s personal wealth and could include preserving a stake for the thousands of punk investors who have supported BrewDog over the years, according to Sky News and The Sunday Times.
News of Watt’s last-minute intervention emerged as the bid deadline for second-round offers for the company approached.
It follows advisory firm AlixPartners stepping in to run an accelerated sales process at the brewer last week.
Watt is understood to be competing against numerous other bids for BrewDog’s assets and beer brands, including multinational brewers and private equity firms.
It is unclear how much interest there is in the group’s bar estate, although weekend reports said Watt was interested in keeping the group whole.
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Watt, and co-founder Dickie, banked £50m each in 2017 when they sold a 22% stake in BrewDog to PE firm TSG Consumer Partners for £213m.
Watt stepped down as CEO of the business in 2024 but retains a stake and a board seat.
Any deal is expected to leave Brewdog’s 220,000 crowdfunding shareholders, who ploughed £75m into the company, significantly out of pocket.
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