Pabst for Sale: Donate For Beer, Get Nothing… Not even drunk.
The Brooklyn Bridge is not for sale (again), but Pabst Brewing Company is. With an asking price of $300,000,000.00 – Three Hundred Meeeeelllllion (evil laugh), you can own a part of beer history. In other words, everything your parents ever wanted from you is now available for a pledge that ranges from $5 to $250,000.00. 
Two advertising companies are “crowd sourcing” the capital investment and this has been bewildering me for the past couple of hours. Here is why I am confused:
First, it appears to me that this is an ingenious scheme by two companies to use little or none of their own assets in order to acquire Pabst. Rather, they are relying on other people, “the community,” to give them money (pledges) so that they can acquire a beer giant and reap the profits. In exchange for your pledge, they will send you a beer and a certificate. This is the next thing that confuses me…
As per a certificate, I wonder what it says. Does it purport to give the pledgor an equitable or beneficial ownership interest in the future of the company in regards to the proportion of the pledge? If so, doesn’t this violate securities regulations? If not, is this considered a donation? If it is a donation is it deductable from my personal federal income tax statement?
Certainly if this was a guarantee, a debenture, or an issuance of stock, they would have to own the company first in order to issue these types of certificates. Secondly, if they are issuing certificates, they probably have to register according to SEC regulations. But, for argument’s sake, lets just say that you are purchasing the piece of mind knowing that “you are investing in beer” and simultaneously making someone else, a heck-uv-alot richer.
If this is the case, at least I should be able to deduct the amount of my pledge from my annual personal federal income tax, right? Well, not exactly. Usually, tax deductions in this form are for “charitable donations.” That is, donations made by or on behalf of the donor to an organization with a charitable purpose (e.g., scientific, cultural, educational, literary, artistic, religious value, etc.) It would be hard for me to believe that “save the beer” is a legitimate charitable purpose. HOWEVER, I think that a plausible argument could be made that the pledge was made on behalf of the historical value of Pabst, and as such it might fit into one of the categories enumerated above.
Ultimately, I think there are a panoply of issues which the website www.buyabeercompany.com does not address. Certainly the offer is ambiguous at best. But, for every scammer there is a sucker, hopefully not $300,000,000.00 worth though.
Good beer, just not worth that much.