Brewdog – more investors wanted for expansion plans

Ambitious Scottish craft beer company Brewdog has returned to investors asking for another £4 million to boost its output tenfold.

The move comes two years after the Aberdeenshire company behind drinks such as Punk IPA and 5am Saint raised £2.2m through its online crowd-funding scheme to back the building of a new brewery in Ellon.

The company has gained attention for high-strength brews such as its 55% ABV The End of History, which was packaged inside stuffed squirrels and stoats, but it has also built a mainstream audience through national supermarket listings and a growing bar chain.

This time, the Equity for Punks scheme will offer 42,000 shares at £95 each, equivalent to 3.9% of the expanded company.

This values the company at £103m, some 211 times last year’s pre-tax profit.

BrewDog co-founder James Watt said:

The company said it requires the new cash to extend the brewery it opened in Ellon earlier this year to boost production ten-fold to 500,000 hectalitres a year. It also has plans for a visitor centre, bar, restaurant and shop on the site.

BrewDog intends to build a £1m brewing academy in London that will offer home-brewing classes and equipment.

It wants £250,000 to start production of its spirit brand Watt Dickie.

And it will take £50,000 to develop and launch a new beer called Hop Head, which is dry-hopped on the bar where it is served.

Brewdog has plans to extend its 12-strong bar chain in the UK and overseas to include Germany and the United States of America.

The company also intends to open one or two specialist beer bottle shops, starting with a site in London due to open in September.

The closing date for the share offer is January 22.

BrewDog made a pre-tax profit of £486,000 last year on revenue of £10.7m. Turnover is expected to hit £20m this year and double again in 2014.

The share issue is expected to cost £135,000.