BrewDog, the craft brewery and pub chain behind the popular line of drinks including Punk IPA, Elvis Juice, and Black Heart Stout, has been sold for £33m after falling into administration on 2 March, blaming the ‘challenging economic climate’.

Clare Kennedy, Ian Partridge, and Ben Browne of AlixPartners were appointed joint administrators to four companies in the group trading as BrewDay, including BrewDog plc, BrewDog International Ltd, BrewDog Retail Ltd, and Draft House Holding Ltd.

Shortly after the appointment, the joint administrators agreed the sale to Tilray Brands UK Ltd, owned by Tilray Brands Inc, which describe themselves as a ‘medicinal cannabis producer’ and a ‘global lifestyle and packaging company’. Job cuts came immediately with nearly half the workforce of 1,217 staff laid off.

The deal sees the majority of BrewDog’s pubs closed immediately, as Tilray acquires the company’s Scottish-based brewing and distribution facilities near Aberdeen and Motherwell in Lanarkshire, along with the intellectual property (IP) for its beer brands. But only 10 BrewDog pubs in the UK and one in Ireland will remain open as part of the £33m deal.

The joint administrators stated: ‘Regrettably, a total of 38 bars in the UK will close with immediate effect, leading to 484 redundancies.’

In total, the sale saved 733 jobs, the joint administrators said BrewDog staff will become employees of Tilray Brands UK Ltd.

London was hard hit by the closures with eight pubs in the capital closed on Monday as part of the deal, including sites in Soho, Camden and Tower Bridge. Locations in Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Glasgow were also shut.

Only the London pubs at Canary Wharf, Covent Garden, Paddington, Tower Hill and Waterloo will remain open, as well as sites in Birmingham, Ellon in Aberdeenshire, Manchester, two in Edinburgh, and their only Ireland outlet in Dublin.

When BrewDog was started in 2007, it raised money through an in-house crowdfunding scheme designed to allow the public to buy shares in the brewery. More than 200,000 people bought ‘Equity for Punks’ shares, investing £75m, with stakes between £50 and £12,000. But the investors will see zero returns.

The joint administrators confirmed: ‘There will be no return to any equity holders, including that granted under the Equity for Punks scheme, from this transaction.’

The latest accounts for BrewDog plc for year end 31 December 2024, filed last September, reported turnover of £357m, virtually unchanged from £354m in FY23, with a loss of £34.5m, down from a £63.5m loss in FY23.

For the most recent financial year the turnover was £357m up from £354m the year previous, with a total employee count of 1400.

A statement from Tilray said: ‘Brewing and related operating assets are expected to generate annual net revenue of $200m (£149m) and adjusted EBITDA of $6m (£4.4m) to $8m (£5.9m).

‘The acquired business is expected to become cash flow positive beginning in fiscal 2027 as integration initiatives and operational efficiencies are realised.’

Tilray is also ‘separately negotiating to acquire certain BrewDog assets in the US and Australia’, with a deal set to be finalised by the end of March.

Tilray Brands is owned and run by Canadian billionaire, Irwin D Simon, who is chairman and CEO, and the business already has extensive craft beer operations in the US.

Simon said: ‘As we begin a new chapter for this great brand, our priority is to refocus BrewDog on the craft beer excellence that made it beloved in the first place and strategically invest to return the operations to profitable growth.

‘With the BrewDog acquisition, our total global beverage platform is expected to grow to $500m (£376) in annual revenue, creating one of the largest diversified craft beverage platforms globally.’

BrewDog calls time as company put up for sale | 16 February 2026