Jay-Z Reportedly Offered $1.5 Billion to Buyout Cognac Brand as New Details Emerge in the Bacardi Lawsuit Saga
(Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
New details have emerged relating to the Bacardi Lawsuit involving Jay-Z and the cognac brand D’Usse. Jay-Z and Bacardi have a 50/50 partnership in the cognac line through their companies SC Liquor LLC and Empire Investments Inc., respectively. The mogul claims to have offered $1.5 billion to buyout Bacardi’s stake in the brand but was rejected.
New documents, obtained by TMZ, indicate that Jay-Z first tried to buyout Bacardi in Dec. 2021. Also, it has been revealed that when the rapper and spirit giant exchanged valuation for D’Usse worth, they had very different results.
Jay-Z valued the cognac brand at $2.5 billion while Bacardi’s valuation was $460 million. Therefore, the $1.5 billion offer was over three times the value determined by Bacardi. Yet, the offer was rejected.
According to the documents, Jay-Z asserted that Bacardi influenced a third-party appraiser. The appraised price was not made public but was likely on the lower end.
This appears to be one of the factors that began the lawsuit that started in October. This initial lawsuit sought to open the books on D’Usse. The billionaire businessman was willing to sell his stake. However, Jay-Z’s side felt Empire Investments was attempting to drop the value of the cognac brand in order to avoid paying its worth. The new details highlight why this lawsuit to gain access to records appeared necessary.
On Nov. 10, Empire Investments moved to dismiss the lawsuit but Vice Chancellor Paul A. Fioravanti denied the motion, according to Law360. This initiated a second lawsuit to determine where the dispute should occur.
Other lawsuits seek to prevent Empire Investments from adjudicating in any forum other than the Delaware Chancery Court. Two lawsuits were filed by SC Liquor in the Supreme Court of the State of New York but these are sealed.
One of the New York cases will consider SC Liquor’s motion for a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction to prevent Empire Investments from forcing the dispute into arbitration.
The hearing to dismiss SC Liquor’s lawsuit to gain access to D’Usse records is scheduled for Dec. 16.
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