In our weekly look into the world of business, Jonathan Hill from our Corporate & Commercial department, takes a look at BrewDog’s success…

The owners of craft beer company and pub chain BrewDog have sold a 22% stake in their business to American private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners, for £213million.

Co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie owe the rapid growth of the company in large part to online crowdfunding.

Their signature ‘Equity for Punks’ investment program has enabled 55,000 people to help raise more than £50million, and has been described as ‘the world’s most successful online Equity Crowdfunding raise’.

The deal is thought to be one of the largest private equity cash injections ever made into a ‘crowdfunded’ company and demonstrates that crowdfunding can be just as successful as the more traditional methods of raising finance.

BrewDog will raise a toast to that.