James Watt, the co-founder of Brewdog, is facing complaints to the UK data watchdog after he reportedly contacted former shareholders as part of his attempt to buy back the Scottish craft beer firm from US drinks company Tilray.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it was “assessing” information following complaints related to Watt. The data privacy rules overseen by the ICO were triggered after The Guardian reported that a number of shareholders contacted by Watt said they did not understand how he had their contact details, raising concerns about a potential breach of the general data protection regulation (GDPR).
“Brewdog co-founder James Watt is under ICO investigation after reportedly contacting former shareholders as part of his bid to buy back the firm.”
Watt co-founded Brewdog with Martin Dickie in Aberdeenshire in 2007. At its peak, the company had four breweries, about 100 pubs worldwide and was said to be worth more than $1bn. But earlier this year, Tilray took over Brewdog in a deal worth about £33m after the company collapsed with debts of more than £500m, leading to hundreds of job losses. The administration process saw Brewdog shut 36 bars while the takeover deal rendered the shares of about 200,000 crowdfunding investors worthless. Tilray bought Brewdog's brand, intellectual property, UK breweries and 11 bars.
Watt stepped down as chief executive of the brand in 2024 to become its “captain and co-founder”. On Wednesday, he made a bid to buy back the Scottish craft beer firm just months after it was acquired. He tabled an offer to buy Brewdog through his new beer firm, Second Best, claiming that 43,000 so-called equity punk investors had joined forces for the bid.
Earlier this week, bosses at Tilray stressed that the brand was not for sale and planned to reject Watt's takeover efforts. A spokesman added: “Tilray Brands did not acquire Equity for Punk shareholder data as part of its acquisition of the BrewDog brand and assets; that records system remains under the control of BrewDog plc (in administration). Tilray acquired only a customer CRM database comprising individuals who explicitly opted in to BrewDog communications.”
The spokesman further clarified: “For the avoidance of doubt, Tilray Brands (trading as BrewDog) and its current management team have no involvement in, affiliation with, or responsibility for James Watt's business activities, including Second Best.” He added that Tilray Brands did not “authorise, facilitate, or participate in the communications reportedly sent to former Equity for Punks investors and did not authorise the use of any acquired data for such purposes.”
An ICO spokeswoman said: “We are aware of an incident involving Brewdog and we are assessing the information provided.” The outcome of that assessment – and whether Watt’s bid can proceed without the data concerns being resolved – remains to be seen.
