Jay-Z’s champagne brand being expanded with help from LVMH

A champagne brand owned by Jay-Z is to be expanded with help from LVMH. 

The American rapper, who is married to pop star Beyoncé, purchased Armand de Brignac seven years ago. 

And yesterday the 51-year-old, real name Shawn Carter, announced that half the business will be sold to the luxuries brand – which already owns champagne brands including Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Dom Perignon – as part of a tie-up. 

Expansion plan: Jay-Z said LVMH, which is making the investment through wine and spirits division Moet Hennessy, was a ‘natural partner’

Jay-Z said LVMH, which is making the investment through wine and spirits division Moet Hennessy, was a ‘natural partner’. Armand de Brignac is known as ‘Ace of Spades’ because of its label and gold bottles. 

Jay-Z has been involved since 2006, when he bought a 50pc stake. He bought the rest of the business in 2014 and later suggested in one of his songs, What’s Free, that it had been valued at $500m (£356m). 

‘I’m 50 per cent of D’Ussé and it’s debt-free, 100 per cent of Ace of Spades, worth half a B,’ the lyricist said. 

However, Forbes claimed that figure ‘seems a bit too bubbly’ and valued that business at about £221m in 2019.