BrewDog sold Highland estate for knockdown price after abandoning its reforestation plans

"BrewDog's co-founder James Watt claimed its Lost Forest project at Kinrara in the Cairngorms national park would cover a staggering area and capture tens of millions of tonnes of CO2 during its lifetime. The brewing company paid 8.5m for the estate in 2020. Watt said it would showcase the company's efforts to make Brewdog carbon neutral by planting millions of trees, restoring degraded peatland and promoting ecotourism."

"Land registration records seen by the Guardian show that Oxygen Conservation paid 8.85m for Kinrara, a fraction more than BrewDog paid for it five years ago. But the estate would have been expected to be worth about 11.3m in real terms by now, taking account of inflation and excluding the legal and consultants' costs involved."

"Official records show that BrewDog also handed over valuable carbon credits at Kinrara worth at least 4.8m in its deal with Oxygen Conservation, which meant Brewdog failed to realise the profits of those investments."

BrewDog purchased the Kinrara estate in the Cairngorms for 8.5 million pounds in 2020, planning an ambitious Lost Forest project to plant millions of trees and restore peatland as part of its carbon neutrality goals. After co-founder James Watt's replacement as CEO and the company's 37 million pound losses, the estate was sold to carbon investment firm Oxygen Conservation in October 2024. Land records reveal the sale price was 8.85 million pounds, barely exceeding the original purchase price despite inflation expectations of approximately 11.3 million pounds. The transaction included valuable carbon credits worth at least 4.8 million pounds that BrewDog failed to realize as profits. Oxygen Conservation used a Scottish land registration loophole to keep the price confidential, and analysis shows the company negotiated significantly lower per-hectare rates at Kinrara compared to other Scottish estates it acquired.

Read at www.theguardian.com