Brewdog moves into bond sales

The move will see a combination of equity and bonds as the Aberdeenshire-based firm chases the £25 million that has been trying to raise through its latest ‘Equity for Punks’ cowdfunding drive.

Now, wannabe investors can buy a BrewDog Bond from £500 that will generate 6.5 per cent interest per year, with the capital sum returned when the four-year bond matures.

Bond holders will also qualify for a ‘top tier’ discount in BrewDog bars and online shop for the duration of the bond

BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “Equity for Punks has been the driving force behind BrewDog’s epic growth over the last few years, taking us from two men and a dog to a staggering 30,000 shareholders and bars across the globe. We tore up the rulebook when we invited beer lovers to invest in our company, and now we’re throwing the tattered pieces out of the window with the launch of a craft beer mini bond alongside equity.”

Scotland’s largest independent brewery upended the traditional business model in 2010 with its game-changing crowdfunding scheme, Equity for Punks.

Now in its fourth round and offering 526,316 shares in BrewDog for a minimum investment of £95 for two shares, the business smashed a world record-breaking £5 million raised in the first three weeks and is making strong progress towards the £25 million target with almost £8 million secured to date.

At least once a year, a share trading platform is opened where investors can sell shares.

30,000 shareholders have invested over £14 million over four rounds of Equity for Punks to date, which is more money taken through crowdfunding than any other business on record.

Luke Lang, co-founder of Crowdcube, said: “This is the first time that a combined equity and bond crowdfunding raise has been launched and it is fitting that it’s BrewDog, which has been at the vanguard of pioneering crowdfunding globally. BrewDog’s raise on Crowdcube continues a trend towards more established companies partnering with us to secure growth finance. I’ve followed BrewDog and enjoyed its craft beers for many years and it’s great that they’re the first company to work with us for this historic raise.”

According to the Sunday Times Fasttrack survey, the last five years have seen BrewDog experience an average of 167 per cent annual growth, making it the fastest growing food and drinks company in the UK over the past three years.

Mr Watt added: “Our goal is £25million and we’ve already notched up a world record by hitting £5million in under three weeks – we’re confident the level of excitement in buying into the BrewDog journey will continue, especially with the launch of the first ever BrewDog Bond, which is the best Bond to come out of Scotland since Sean Connery.

“We have big plans for this latest round of investment, including expanding some popular ranges, opening our first ever brewery outside of Scotland in Ohio, and branching out into other craft specialisms. Punk IPA is now the top-selling craft beer in UK supermarkets, and we want to keep momentum going on our bid to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are by opening even more BrewDog bars and BottleDogs in cool places, with Brighton and Stockholm launching only last week, and upcoming openings in Brussels, Soho, Edinburgh, London and Rome on the immediate horizon.”

BrewDog currently has 32 bars worldwide, exports to 55 countries and has a workforce of more than 365.

The next big milestone for the brewery will be the opening of a 42 acres site in Columbus, Ohio, where a full-scale 100,000 square foot kick ass craft brewery will launch as a sister brewery to the site at Ellon in Aberdeenshire.