Way back, crowd funding initiatives developed into the stock exchanges we know today. Now, however, with the Internet revolution the beer revolution is queuing at the online crowd funding 'make-it-up-as-you-go-along' grandstands. There are structured platforms like CrowdCube... or you can make up your own rules and punk your way into the black like Brewdog. Brewdog are attempting to raise £25 million with their equity for punks scheme. You can read their prospectus here.
The FT has a good Q&A page on this deal and claims the current fundraising initiative values the company at £300 million and creates a price-to-earnings ratio (PE Ratio) of over one hundred times. That's very high in anyone's books!
The benefit of a stock exchange is that it creates trading liquidity - the ability to buy and or sell the share easily (if there is enough demand). Equity punks won't have this luxury - they will have to wait for an annual trading event and hope their specified minimum price reserve is not too high, or else the share won't sell.
Equity punks will not be able to share in any profits and will not receive any dividends. Besides the potential for the share to increase (or decrease) in value, the other advantage for owning equity will be to qualify for product-related perks in the form of discounts or free product deliveries from time to time, and the right to attend a shareholder meeting. However, don't expect to have much of a say in the company's decision making process, there is no intention to dilute the shareholding away from the core owners. The offer ends soon (April this year) so don't delay.
You may find that becoming an Equity Punk is making more of a feel-good investment than a prudent financial investment. If you do become an Equity Punk, you will be able to howl out loud: 'I invested in a brewery, and own part of Brewdog. Woof!'
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