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With a touch of hip-hop glamor:
Rapper Jay-Z sells half of his champagne company
Photo:
Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Roc Nation
Most people call it "Ace of Spades": a bottle with the unmistakable branding of the Armand de Brignac champagne brand quickly costs between $ 300 and $ 950, some vintages even up to $ 100,000.
Sinfully expensive luxury.
The world-famous rapper
Jay-Z
(51)
knows this
.
When he took over Armand de Brignac in 2014 and gave the brand hip-hop glamor, sales rose to more than 500,000 bottles a year.
Now he is basically putting the crown on the deal and selling half of the company to the luxury giant LVMH, reports the "New York Times" and "Financial Times".
The two parties are silent about the price.
He welcomed the Arnault family, the musician announced on Monday in a tweet alluding to the LVMH major shareholder.
Jay-Z outlined the luxury group, which has famous champagne brands such as Moët & Chandon or Dom Pérignon in its portfolio, as a "natural partner" rather modestly.
In this way it will be possible to bring Armand de Brignac to "the next level of taste and distribution," said the 22-time Grammy winner in an interview with Zoom, according to reports.
In the midst of a pandemic that largely bans partying at glamor events or in clubs with expensive drinks, investing in champagne may not be a good idea.
Worldwide sales fell by 18 percent to 245 million bottles last year, while sales shrank by almost a quarter to the equivalent of four billion euros.
Champagne sales suffered during the pandemic, Jay-Z also admitted.
The market has recently recovered from its initial sharp drop in sales and deliveries in 2020 - the sales decline has leveled off at 20 percent, the entrepreneur said.
So not a good deal?
LVMH, which will take over the distribution of Amrand de Brignac and thus want to give the brand even more recognition worldwide, is not just acquiring a new beverage brand: With the deal, the group also acquires cultural know-how and access to traditional markets some of its brands are not served, commented market insiders in the reports.
In order to achieve this, the
luxury goods company controlled
by billionaire
Bernard Arnault
(71) has long been relying on partnerships with artists from the hip-hop scene and collaborations with streetwear brands.
LVMH had already started a clothing line with the singer Rihanna, but put it on hold for the time being in the pandemic.
Nonetheless, LVMH will continue to support its cosmetics and lingerie lines.
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, has long since made a name for himself as a businessman.
Most recently he made headlines through a joint Bitcoin endowment fund with Twitter boss Jack Dorsey.
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