Tilray Brands, the US brewer and cannabis group, is nearing a deal to buy parts of UK beer business BrewDog, Just Drinks understands.
Last month, BrewDog hired AlixPartners to determine the possible interest in the loss-making business.
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The Scotland-based company, set up in 2007, has closed its bars today as it looked to finalise a deal.
Approached by Just Drinks, BrewDog and AlixPartners declined to comment.
Representatives for Tilray could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
According to Sky News, the deal on the table would see Tilray acquire BrewDog’s brewery in the Scottish town of Ellen, as well as some brands and bars.
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By GlobalDataTilray was formed in 2013 as a business focused on cannabis. The company listed on the Nasdaq five years later.
Cannabis accounts for around 30% of Tilray’s annual sales but is no longer the group’s largest revenue generator.
Tilray also makes pharmaceutical and hemp-based products and, in recent years, has moved to build a business in the drinks sector in part through M&A.
In 2023, the company snapped up brands in the US from Anheuser-Busch InBev and followed that transaction a year later with a deal for four Molson Coors Beverage Co. breweries in the country. Last month, Tilray announced a deal to brew for Carlsberg in the US.
The group distributes its beers and spirits in Europe but, until now, its investment in the region has centred on medical cannabis in markets including Germany.
US private-equity firm TSG Consumer Partners owned 21% of BrewDog after investing the brewer in 2017.
BrewDog founders James Watt and Martin Dickie are still shareholders, although Watt stepped down as CEO in 2024 and Dickie left the business last year.
In October, BrewDog cut an undisclosed number of jobs across its business, pointing to “a tough and fast-changing market”.
In 2024, the Hazy Jane brewer generated a loss of £34.1m ($46.6m) compared to £62.7m the year prior.
The group ran up an operating loss of £19.6m, against one of £45.6m in 2023.
Net revenue was £280.2m, versus £280.9m the year before.
According to the accounts, lodged with Companies House, the UK business register, BrewDog generated just short of £254m of its net revenue in the UK during 2024.
The company announced in January it would close its spirits unit BrewDog Distilling Co. this year.
