BREWDOG has set out to raise £25 million in its latest crowdfunding drive, giving the Scottish craft brewer an implied valuation of around £300m.

 

Ellon-based BrewDog is appealing to existing and new investors across the world after making 8.5 per cent of the company available in its latest Equity for Punks share offer. The company has issued a further 526,316 shares which, if fully subscribed, would mean 23 per cent of its shares are held by "punk" investors.

BrewDog has already raised £7m in three previous crowdfunding exercises, with the fourth poised to lift that to £32m.

The latest campaign is offered on the UK Listing Authority platform, with the prospectus translated into 14 languages. The offer, priced at a minimum £95 for two shares, is currently available for investors Europe, and will soon be available elsewhere in the world.

Brewdog reported a 69 per cent hike in underlying profits to £4.9m in 2014, having turned over £29.6m. It is on track to turn over more than £50m this year.

BrewDog, which raised £4.25m in its most recent crowdfunding offer, will use the new funding to increase brewing capacity five-fold by building a second brewhouse in Ellon. The company, established in 2007 by James Watt and Martin Dickie, plans to build a spirits distillery and custom sour beer facility in Ellon, craft beer hotel in the area, and continue rolling out its international bar network. It currently has 27 bars around the world, but is planning a further 10 UK openings and five international launches this year, as well as 15 both home and abroad next year.

Also on the agenda is the development of a brewery in the US, with Mr Watt revealing that he hopes to agree terms on a site in Columbus, Ohio, as early as next week. The city has been chosen because nearly half the population of the US is based within 500 miles of Columbus. Mr Watt noted that cities such as New York, Chicago and Boston were within easy reach.

BrewDog plans to continue to roll out its chain of craft beer bottle shops this year. It has just signed a lease for a new BottleDog store in Edinburgh, and revealed its forthcoming bar in Glasgow's Merchant City will also feature an outlet.

Asked why the crowdfunding was so attractive to the brewer, Mr Watt said: "We just want to change the space of small business finance.

"Any small company that's growing quickly needs finance to grow. You've got to make a decision quickly as to where you get the finance. Most places that small companies get finance from, be it venture capitalist, parent company, parent acquisition or investment bankers, all comes with so many terms and conditions. We thought if we did that we would have to change things about our beer and how we make it. Equity for Punks was about making sure the people who own our company cared as much about the beer as we do."

BrewDog has nearly 15,000 punk investors who receive benefits such as beer discounts and invitations to its annual meeting, which doubles as a beer and music festival. But Mr Watt said there is more to the investment than perks. He said investors who backed its second Equity for Punks scheme who had the chance to sell their shares in September could have done so at a 526 per cent premium on their initial investment, made three years previously. Mr Watt said the performance is "pretty phenomenal just as an investment".

Mr Watt said BrewDog will "take the same anarchic, destructive approach" to whisky and gin production as it does to beer.