UK data watchdog studies complaints over James Watt BrewDog bid

BrewDog co-founder James Watt is facing complaints to the UK's information regulatory assemblage amid claims helium contacted the brewer's erstwhile shareholders successful transportation with his bid to bargain backmost the business.

Last week, Watt launched a bid to get BrewDog, present owned by the US cannabis-and-beverages concern Tilray Brands.

"We person formally submitted our connection to bargain BrewDog," Watt wrote successful a LinkedIn post. "The connection was made by Second Best and sent to Tilray Brands."

A study from The Guardian connected Friday (17 July) said arsenic portion of the proposal, a fig of shareholders were contacted by Watt to connection them the "exact aforesaid involvement successful Second Best that you erstwhile held successful BrewDog, for free".

According to The Guardian, unnamed sources who received an email from Watt said they did not cognize however helium had received their interaction information, raising concerns astir a imaginable breach of rules astir wide information extortion regularisation (GDPR).

Contacted by Just Drinks connected the report, a spokesperson for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said: "We are alert of an incidental involving BrewDog and we are assessing the accusation provided."

Just Drinks has approached Watt for comment.

In March, Tilray Brands struck respective deals to get BrewDog assets successful the UK, Ireland, the US and Australia.

Watt, who acceptable up BrewDog successful 2007, stepped down arsenic CEO 2 years ago. Fellow co-founder Martin Dickie near the concern past year. They were some shareholders astatine the clip of the transactions with Tilray.

Watt had already received disapproval pursuing the deals with Tilray.

During his tenure, BrewDog's Equity for Punks crowdfunding strategy raised wealth for the business, with the past fundraising circular taking spot successful 2021.

However, the alleged equity punk investors received nary instrumentality aft Tilray bought the assets from the loss-making business.

Watt revealed plans to motorboat his caller brew concern Second Best successful May.

At that time, helium said helium would allocate up to 19.3% of the brew concern to erstwhile shareholders successful BrewDog.

In his LinkedIn station past week, Watt said "43,000 equity punks person already joined the bid".

He added: "If we succeed, each registered punk gets their BrewDog equity backmost for free. We'd besides reconstruct the Real Living Wage, bring backmost the team's equity and enactment the assemblage backmost astatine the bosom of the business.

"The punks and the unit built this institution and BrewDog deserves to beryllium to them erstwhile more."

In a connection to Just Drinks, Tilray Brands said it "did not get Equity for Punk shareholder information arsenic portion of its acquisition of the BrewDog marque and assets; that records strategy remains nether the power of BrewDog plc (in administration)".