DLA Piper is acting for administrators of long-beleaguered craft beer brewer BrewDog on the sale of some of its UK and Irish assets to US cannabis and drinks company Tilray Brands for £33m, with Tilray represented by Proskauer.
Earlier today (2 March), Clare Kennedy, Ian Partridge and Ben Browne of distressed business advisory AlixPartners were appointed joint administrators to the brewer, with Tilray Brands then agreeing a rescue deal for some of the business.
Tilray is set to acquire BrewDog’s brand, UK brewing and distribution operations, IP and ’11 strategic brewpubs in the United Kingdom and Ireland,’ according to a statement from Tilray.
BrewDog’s 38 remaining bars across England and Scotland will close with immediate effect, leading to 484 redundancies.
AlixPartners is being advised by a team from DLA Piper led by UK head of restructuring Rob Russell in Manchester and restructuring partner Sarah Letson, who leads the firm’s Scotland restructuring practice from its Edinburgh office.
DLA is a long-time adviser to the embattled brewing company, acting for it on the 2017 acquisition of a 22.3% stake by private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners, in a deal that promised the PE house an 18% compound return on its £213m investment in the event of an exit.
DLA also acted for the brewer in its joint venture with Budweiser in 2023, a move that saw it expand into China under the Budweiser brand.
For Tilray Brands, investment bank Jefferies acted as financial adviser, with Proskauer acting as external legal counsel.
AlixPartners said in a statement: ‘No offer was made at any stage of the sales process, from any prospective bidder, which would have preserved BrewDog in its entirety.’
