BrewDog needs £47,000 to complete share issue

BrewDog, the controversial Scottish brewer, revealed today it is nearly £47,000 short of what it needs to complete a multi-million pound share issue to investors.

To comply with the terms of its £2.3m share issue, called 'Equity for Punks', the Aberdeenshire-based brewer has to raise £500,000 from investors by close of play this Friday (January 8), otherwise the scheme could technically collapse. Shares are priced at £230 each.

Ian Hope, BrewDog's finance director, said the subscription tally currently stood at £453,330, leaving £46,670 to be raised over the next two days.

However even if there is a shortfall this will not mean the share issue will fail, Hope said.

He confirmed that if the money cannot be found in the open market then existing directors, including BrewDog's founders James Watt and Martin Dickie, would dip into their own pockets to meet the required amount.

"The plan was always to hit £400,000 and that any balance at the close would be met by BrewDog directors," he said.

The money, once raised, will be used to fund BrewDog's expansion plans, Hope added.

Hope also confirmed the brewer was "serious" about creating a pub chain, a move which had been reported recently. The group had already bought one pub in Aberdeen and had plans to buy more in the future, he said.

BrewDog, which claims to have made the world's strongest beer - the 32 per cent ABV'd 'Tactical Nuclear Penguin' - made £1.8m in turnover last year, its second year of trading. It did not reveal a profit figure.