Crowdfunding is where a large number of people pool their money together to back a business they believe in, via an online platform. More information on crowdfunding can be found here.
Crowdcube is a platform that enables businesses to attract investment from professionals and venture capital firms, as well as from everyday investors. It has facilitated crowdfunding raises for Monzo, Revolut, BrewDog, Freetrade and more, and is currently the world’s largest crowdfunding platform. It’s also regulated in the UK by the FCA & the EU by the CNMV, so you can invest in confidence. Learn more about Crowdcube here.
We’re pleased to say, Freedom brewery is now operating at full capacity, so we are raising funds of £500k to invest in production expansion at the brewery, enabling us to install a new canning line which will double our current production ability.
Over the last 5 years we have sourced finance for growth from our existing private-equity investor base, including Oakfield Capital, investing in production infrastructure of the brewery to grow the business to £5m turnover (that’s over 4million pints!) in 2021. Our lead investors will continue to invest in the success of the Freedom business during this fund raise, however we are now looking to raise from the crowd in order to broaden our shareholder community and give our dedicated followers, fans and customers a chance to get involved in shaping our future and help us spread the word about our beer brewed, better.
Following recent investment by our current shareholders in expanding and improving the brewery, we now need to invest a further £500,000 in production expansion, enabling us to install a larger canning line which will double our current production capacity.
Any investment above this target will be used to further increase and improve our production facilities through the purchase of additional maturation tanks and brewing vessels, as well as investment to accelerate our marketing activities at scale, nationally.
Our current shareholders who account for over 80% ownership of the business will fully support this capital raise and invest alongside our new investors. For the first time, we are giving our loyal fans and customers the opportunity to own a part of Freedom and join us in our mission to be one of the largest independent craft lager breweries in the UK.
Oakfield Capital are the largest shareholder, having first invested in 2013 and continued to support the expansion of the business over the last 5 years, allowing us to invest in new canning, bottling and kegging lines, plus the installation of 20 maturation tanks to meet the growing demand for our craft lager. We have additional private funds and investors who own the remaining shares alongside management.
Freedom is majority owned by Oakfield Capital and a number of private investment funds, individuals and management. Upon investment, you will become a part-owner of the business alongside these sophisticated investors.
Liberty Brewing was established in 2013 when Oakfield Capital acquired a controlling share in Freedom Brewery. Freedom Brewery remains the brand which the business trades under and Liberty Brewing is the parent company. All equity is held within Liberty Brewing and your investment will be held here too.
The core brewery business was established and started brewing beer in 1995 as “The Freedom Brewing Company Ltd”. The business and assets were then bought by Freedom Brewery Ltd in 2005 in an arms length transaction. In 2013, Liberty Brewing Ltd was set up as a topco and owns 100% of Freedom Brewery Ltd, which in turn owns the operational business and assets. Investment in this round will be into Liberty Brewing Ltd; please see the Legal Review for further details”
We’re going live privately on Crowdcube this June. Exclusive access will be given to those who pre-registered using this page. We will open up for investment from all other parties publicly the following week.
The most important first step is to sign up (free) to Crowdcube. As soon as our page is live you will have exclusive access to invest before we share this opportunity with the rest of the world.
You can own a piece of the future of Freedom Brewery for £10.80 (minimum investment is 2 shares). There is no upper limit on your investment.
You’ll become a shareholder in Freedom brewery and a part-owner of the company. Freedom brewery is also offering investors a range of exclusive rewards alongside the equity they receive for their investment. We’ll share more details of the rewards available once the funding platform opens.
Just remember that investing in any business carries significant risks, including illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of your investment and dilution. You can read more about these risks on the Crowdcube website.
Return may come via a liquidity event such as a trade sale, a secondary market transaction, dividends or an IPO.
Welcome to the Freedom brewery community! After the round is complete, all investors will be emailed details on their benefits including discount codes, events and beer deliveries so keep an eye on your inbox once the fund closes!
Within the craft beer sector, our experience is that companies are valued on a multiple of turnover. These multiples are set by the marketplace and recent transactions that we are benchmarking towards provides a multiple range of between 8-10 times turnover. Recent transaction valuations have been:
Freedom therefore represents excellent value at a turnover multiple less than 5 and we believe allows headroom for further growth in our future valuation either through higher multiples at exit, for example by strengthening our brand across the UK with upweighted marketing activity, or through increasing the turnover against which a multiple is applied.
Freedom brewery is currently operating in the largest beer category in the UK, with 80% beer sold being lager. We are perfectly placed to deliver against the ever-increasing consumer trend for high quality, authentic, locally brewed British craft lagers. Higher multiples are paid for businesses and brands that have changed the market through their unique brand proposition, proven track record and obvious growth potential. We believe that Freedom brewery is one of those brands.
Under the current rules to qualify for EIS/SEIS a business has to have been trading for less than 7 years, and as Freedom began brewing and selling beer in 1995, this is not an EIS/SEIS qualifying investment.
