Moet Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of luxury conglomerate LVMH, announced Monday that it had bought a 50% stake in the champagne brand from rapper Jay-Z, Armand de Brignac.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Jay-Z’s relationship with Armand de Brignac began in 2006 with a 50% stake in the brand and debuted in his music video, “Show Me What You Got,” before it was officially released later that year. He had previously supported Cristal in his songs before a Louis Roederer manager made derogatory comments about his role in hip-hop culture. The rapper, whose first name is Shawn Carter, bought the remaining half from Armand de Brignac in 2014.
Carter said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Monday that he had started talks in 2019 about a deal with LVMH.
“It just started in a place of respect and was built up pretty quickly from there,” he said.
Philippe Schaus, CEO of Moet Hennessy, told CNBC’s Becky Quick that Armand de Brignac had brought new consumers to the champagne category.
“What we could bring to the already very successful brand is the sheer power of our international sales network,” said Schaus.
The brand, known by the nickname “Ace of Spades”, sold more than 500,000 bottles in 2019. With fewer parties and evenings, the coronavirus pandemic has affected champagne sales. The industrial trading group Comite Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne estimated that champagne sales fell by USD 1.2 billion or 18 vol .-% last year.
