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Brewdog founder faces UK data watchdog complaints amid buyback bid
The ICO said it is assessing complaints tied to James Watt contacting former shareholders, months after Tilray took over Brewdog in a deal worth about £33m.
Brewdog co-founder James Watt is facing complaints to the UK data watchdog after he reportedly contacted former shareholders as part of efforts to take back control of the craft brewer, according to BBC Business. The UK Information Commissioner's Office said it is assessing information provided following the complaints.
The renewed push comes months after Tilray took over Brewdog in a deal worth about £33m following Brewdog's collapse under debts of more than £500m, which led to hundreds of job losses. During the administration process, Brewdog shut 36 bars, and the takeover left shares of about 200,000 crowdfunding investors worthless.
BBC Business reports that Watt stepped down as chief executive in 2024 to become the brand's “captain and co-founder,” and earlier this week made a bid to buy back Brewdog through his new beer firm, Second Best. Watt said about 43,000 “equity punk” investors had joined forces for the bid, while The Guardian reported that some contacted shareholders said they did not understand how he obtained their contact details, raising GDPR concerns.
Tilray has said the brand was not for sale and planned to reject the takeover efforts, BBC Business added. Tilray also stressed it did not acquire the data used in the communications reportedly sent to former “Equity for Punks” investors, saying it holds only a customer CRM database of people who opted in to Brewdog communications, and that no Tilray-held data has been shared with external entities.