A successful exit for crowdfunders in craft beer

Megabrewer AB InBev will buy the Camden Town Brewery craft beer brand for around £85m. Camden raised more than £2.75m in crowdfunding through Crowdcube earlier this year, but needs further investment, said CEO and founder Jasper Cuppaidge.

What the commentators said

Nonetheless, Cuppaidge said that Ab InBev's offer represented "a very successful exit" for investors, "particularly relative to the size of the shareholders' investment". Shareholders can expect to make £1.0861 per share up front, though they can also choose to receive up to £1.2526 per share depending on sales growth over the next five years.

The offer "doesn't seem unreasonable", reckoned Kadhim Shubber on the Financial Times's Alphaville blog. One investor told Shubber that they bought 851 shares this year for £550, yielding a 68% return if they take the cash now. According to Crowdcube's Luke Lang, the sale proves Crowdcube investors to be "shrewd judge[s] of potential".

Camden's pitch had led to "manyfinance and industry experts being publicly disparaging of its valuation"; Lang thinks those experts "will be choking on their Christmas turkey". No wonder he's crowing: as CrowdFundInsider.com's JD Alois said, Camden is "among the few equity crowdfunding offers that have provided investors with a measurable exit".