Sky News reports that the board has appointed restructuring and advisory firm AlixPartners to field interest from potential bidders.
Sources said AlixPartners had begun sounding out prospective suitors in recent days, with a tight deadline for indicative offers understood to have been set.
Co-founder and former CEO James Watt is reportedly considering a bid to buy back the company, with sources indicating he is canvassing support from financial backers.
Watt stepped away from the business in 2024 but remains one of the company’s biggest shareholders.
A deal could see many of BrewDog’s roughly 220,000 individual shareholders — who became investors through its ‘Equity for Punks’ scheme — left with little return on their average outlay of about £400.
Others, however, made significant returns by selling their shares in previous funding rounds.
The company raised about £75m in total from the sale of shares to customers, offering perks such as discounts and early access to new craft beers. Its first crowdfunding round took place in 2009, with the most recent in 2021.
One insider said the business would now command a price far below a once-mooted valuation of £2bn, which had fuelled hopes among investors of an eventual stock market listing.
In 2017, TSG Consumer Partners took a 21% stake in BrewDog in a deal that implied a unicorn valuation of at least $1bn.
Since then, however, BrewDog has faced mounting losses, closing a string of bars and cutting significant numbers of jobs.
Last year, the company posted a £37m loss on turnover of £357m.
Its four breweries — in Ellon, Scotland, and at sites in the US, Australia and Germany — could be sold separately from the rest of the group, depending on the outcome of the AlixPartners-run process.
A company spokesperson said: “As with many businesses operating in a challenging economic climate and facing sustained macro headwinds, we regularly review our options with a focus on the long-term strength and sustainability of the company.
“Following a year of decisive action in 2025, which saw a focus on costs and operating efficiencies, we have appointed AlixPartners to support a structured and competitive process to evaluate the next phase of investment for the business.
“This is a deliberate and disciplined step with a focus on strengthening the long-term future of the BrewDog brand and its operations.
“BrewDog remains a global pioneer in craft beer: a world-class consumer brand, the No.1 independent brewer in the UK, with a highly engaged global community.
“We believe this combination will attract substantial interest, though no final decisions have been made.
“Our breweries, bars and venues continue to operate as normal.
“We will not comment on further speculation.”