We learned in late September that Brad Pitt’s legal shenanigans did not stop Angelina Jolie. Jolie told the California court in July that she had a buyer for her half of Chateau Miraval and her half of the winery business. She asked the court to remove the restraining order on jointly-held assets so that she could go through with the sale. In late September, the path was cleared, and now we know who bought Angelina’s half of Miraval: Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli.
Angelina Jolie has sold her share of Château Miraval to Tenute del Mondo – a subsidiary of the Stoli Group – that counts Masseto and Ornellaia among its portfolio, for an undisclosed sum. The group has bought 50% of Château Miraval, and the Miraval brand, from Angelina Jolie, it announced today (5 October), through its ultra-premium wine division, Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of the Stoli Group.
Damian McKinney, global CEO of Stoli Group said they had long admired Miraval’s “exceptional” wines and brand and was thrilled to have a position alongside Brad Pitt as curators of its extraordinary vintages.
“We are truly honoured to do our part to uphold the integrity and commitment, as well as invest the time and passion evidenced in both the Château and the Miraval brand,” he said. Speaking exclusively to the drinks business following the announcement, McKinney said that the Stoli Group aims to build on an “already great” brand, saying that he believed it could double the size of the brand relatively quickly.
“With our global footprint we believe we can bring huge value,” he said. “I think they’ve done a really good job – the Champagne is really beautiful. The question is how we bring our brand building and our global route to market, especially in Asia Pacific, where we’re really strong, into play,” McKinney said. Although the finer details of the deal have not yet been disclosed, McKinney described the group as having bought Miraval for “a very fair price for an amazing brand,” adding ” We’re very happy.”
In the meantime, Stoli Group’s key focus is to build relationships with the other parties – namely, Brad Pitt, who owns the remaining 50% stake in the Château through his company Quimcum, and the Southern Rhône winemaking specialists, the Perrin family, who co-owns the estate and manages the winemaking. “For me, that’s the first port of call – how do we get together and work out what we can do in the future?” he said. “In Brad Pitt you have a consummate professional and with the Perrin family, you have a great reputation of amazing wines – so I think we have the right combination.”
[From The Drinks Business]
This sounds like it’s win-win for everyone involved. Angelina disposes of her half of one of their largest jointly-held assets, and she sold it for a fair price which makes her happy and makes the buyer happy. Tenute del Mondo has the distribution infrastructure to expand the Miraval label across the world and increase sales and profit. And after Brad threw a tantrum about it, he’ll likely greatly benefit from having business partners with such a large existing stake in the industry. The value of Miraval – both the estate and the winery – is reportedly north of $150 million. I wonder what Angelina got for her half.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid and WENN.
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