BrewDog creditors owed £190m will not be paid in full, administrators say
Administrators at AlixPartners have confirmed that creditors of collapsed brewer BrewDog, owed more than £190m, will not be repaid in full, with the UK government among those losing out.
Administrators handling the wind-down of BrewDog, the self-styled "punk" beer company that collapsed earlier this year, have confirmed that creditors owed roughly £190m will not be paid back in full.
In a progress update, AlixPartners said there were insufficient funds to cover debts tied to unpaid wages, tax owed to HM Revenue and Customs, and outstanding bills owed to other businesses.
Earlier this year, US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray acquired BrewDog's brand, intellectual property, UK breweries and 11 bars in a roughly £33m rescue deal struck after the company entered administration. That deal excluded most of BrewDog's bar estate, resulting in 38 bar closures and 440 job losses.
The collapse wiped out the investments of 200,000 so-called "equity punks" — small investors who had crowdfunded the business.
AlixPartners said costs had been pushed up by the need to remove unauthorised occupiers from shuttered bars, while asset sales — including vehicles described as being of "old age and varying roadworthiness" — raised only limited sums. Preferential creditors of the bars business who will not be repaid in full include the UK government.
Staff owed £489,000 in wages and holiday pay have already been compensated through the government's redundancy payment scheme. However, AlixPartners said there were not enough funds to repay the government or to cover £2.4m in taxes owed to HMRC, though a separate £3.6m owed to the tax authority will be repaid.
Unsecured creditors — including Lord's Cricket Ground, West Ham United FC and Manchester University — are expected to receive less than a penny for every pound owed. Private equity firm TSG, which paid £213m for a 22% stake in 2017, has seen its investment wiped out and will not recover nearly £28m owed to it. Lender HSBC is expected to recoup about £42m of the roughly £61m it is owed.
BrewDog co-founder James Watt, who set up the company with Martin Dickie in 2007, has previously said he was left "heartbroken" by its collapse. He has since launched several new ventures, including Social Tip, and, after failing in a bid to buy BrewDog back, started a new beer business called Second Best, offering former investors free shares.
