James Watt, cofounder of beer company BrewDog, has announced he intends to launch a new brewery venture called Second Best and offer former investors a stake.

On LinkedIn, Watt said the brand would allocate up to 19.3 per cent of Second Best to former crowdfunding investors in BrewDog, known as Equity Punks, who were left with nothing when the company was bought [IH1.1]in March.

The £33 million buyout by private equity group Tilray included the company’s global brand, intellectual property, UK brewing operations and 11 bars in the UK and Ireland, but equity holders were not reimbursed for their stake.

Now, anyone who previously invested in BrewDog will be able to gain the same percentage of Second Best free of charge, if they do so within the next 27 days.

Responses in the comments of the LinkedIn post have been mixed: some who used to be Equity Punks have praised the initiative, while others have noted that Watt himself left the company with a significant increase in net worth while smaller investors were unable to cash out.

BBC Scotland reported that former investor Gareth Fitzgerald, who spent £1,000 on BrewDog shares, said he would sign up for the scheme, but was doubtful over whether it would pay off. “19.3 per cent sounds good – but 19.3 per cent of nothing is nothing,” he told the news outlet.

Whatever their hesitations, the company has so far accrued over 10,000 backers, Watt told Scottish paper The Press and Journal, adding that reactions to Second Best have been “significantly” positive thus far.

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