Tilray buys BrewDog’s Australian arm
US alcohol producer and medical cannabis company Tilray has acquired BrewDog’s Australian business, which includes its production facility and bars.
The latest acquisition comes just a week after Tilray purchased BrewDog’s UK brewing operations, brand, and 11 pubs in a £33 million (US$43.9m) deal that led to the loss of 484 hospitality jobs.
The purchase of the “profitable” BrewDog Brewing Australia business includes a brewing and production facility in Brisbane, Queensland.
The acquisition also includes five bars across the country: two owned BrewDog bar locations in Brisbane – DogTap Brisbane and BrewDog Fortitude Valley – as well as three franchise locations in Pentridge (Victoria), South Eveleigh (New South Wales), and Perth (Western Australia).
Last month, management consultancy firm AlixPartners was brought in to oversee a sales process for Aberdeenshire-based BrewDog after it failed to make a profit in recent years.
The appointment followed the news in January that BrewDog would close its distilling arm after 10 years in operation. It stopped production of its spirits brands, which include Lonewolf Gin, Abstrakt Vodka, Duo Rum, Casa Rayos Tequila, and Ron Bodega rum.
Irwin D Simon, chairman and CEO of Tilray Brands, said the Australian deal “represents another important milestone in advancing Tilray’s global beverage and consumer products strategy”.
It also provides a “strategic gateway to the rapidly growing Asia Pacific region,” Simon noted, while strengthening Tilray’s “scaled global beverage platform” and supporting its strategy to grow internationally.
Simon added: “BrewDog’s brewing capabilities, production infrastructure, and hospitality locations in Australia provide a strong operational base to invest in the brand’s next chapter, while also creating a strategic hub to introduce Tilray’s portfolio of leading US beverage brands across the Asia Pacific region.”
Rajnish Ohri, president, international, Tilray Brands, noted: “Together with the BrewDog team, we will focus on growing the brand locally while leveraging our brewing, distribution, and commercial capabilities to expand BrewDog across Australia’s national retail chain footprint and introduce Tilray’s broader beverage portfolio across Australia and the Asia Pacific region, including key markets such as Japan.”
Financial terms of the Australian deal have not been disclosed.
Tilray intends to expand its alcohol portfolio spanning craft beer, spirits, energy drinks, water and ‘emerging categories’ into global markets.
Tilray owns Colorado’s Breckenridge Distillery, which it acquired in December 2021 with the aim of producing THC-infused spirits.
The distillery’s range includes American whiskey, rum, vodka, gin, liqueurs, alcohol-free ‘spirits’, and Casa Breck Tequila, which is made at Casa Loy Tequilera (NOM 1633) in Jalisco.
In 2019, Tilray purchased UK-based Smith & Sinclair to develop CBD-infused edibles. The company claims to have made the world’s first alcoholic cocktail gummy.
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