French conglomerate LVMH’s Moët Hennessy has bought out a 50% stake of rapper Jay-Z’s champagne brand, Armand de Brignac as reported by the New York Times. At the moment, the financial terms were not disclosed to the public.

The multi-hyphenate artiste has been a staunch supporter of the brand since 2006, and he will often give shoutouts to the champagne’s nickname, “Ace of Spades” inside his raps. In 2019, about 500,000 bottles were sold across different markets such as Europe, North America and Asia. 

“We had been following its success over the last few years and we thought, this is crazy. Most Champagne brands see very modest growth, and he was just shooting up through the ranks,” said Philippe Schaus, CEO of Moet Hennessy’s drinks division.

It’s not a surprise that last year was a tough year for many sectors, the champagne industry saw its sales dropped by a fifth as many events such as weddings, celebrations, and the closures of restaurants all contributed to the decline. 

It was also reported that the deal was brought to fruition by the connection Jay-Z has with Alexandre Arnault, the son of LVMH’s founder, Bernard Arnault. The scion has recently been appointed to oversee the management of LVMH’s newly acquired jewellery brand, Tiffany & Co. Previously, the younger Arnault was the CEO of Germany luxury suitcase maker, Rimowa after successfully persuading LVMH to acquire it.

Under this new partnership, Armand de Brignac is able to tap on the expertise of LVMH’s distribution network as well as its track record of managing its other champagne brands under its arm. “We are already global leaders with our prestige Champagne brands—Dom Pérignon, Krug and the prestige cuvées of Veuve Clicquot and Ruinart,” says Philippe Schaus in an interview with WWD. “Armand de Brignac has created another niche and in some respects revolutionized the prestige category, so we wanted to be part of that.”

Likewise, for Jay-Z, he agrees that this partnership happened “very naturally” and he looks forward to seeing the brand “grow and flourish” with this newfound platform. Armand de Brignac champagnes are sold from $300.