By Staff:
It’s no secret that Jay-Z has been in the news lately, especially with respect to his alcohol brand D’Usse. The offer was considered too good to be true and raised questions as to why such an unprecedented offer would be refused by the liquor giant. However, TMZ recently broke a story that Jay is in a legal battle with Bacardi, who own half of the brand. He initially offered to buy out Bacardi’s stake for $1.5 billion, but they rejected the offer and instead proposed a much lower figure of $460 million!
It turns out that Jay-Z was not only looking for a return on his investment; he was also trying to tap into Bacardi's long-established rewards and loyalty programs. With D'Usse, Jay-Z would have had access to a wide range of existing customers who would be incentivized with discounts and other rewards for choosing the brand over others.
According to reports, Jay was looking to buy out Bacardi's share of D’Usse—which he co-owns with them—for $1.5 billion dollars. However, Bacardi rejected this offer and instead proposed their own figure of $460 million as their value for the brand. This has resulted in what some are calling a “legal war” between Jay and Bacardi where both parties are trying to get the best deal for themselves.
In documents filed by Jay-Z, he claims that his half of D’Usse is worth at least twice as much as what he originally offered: an impressive $2.5 billion! This is an incredibly high number considering that before this dispute began in 2018, it was valued at around only $600 million combined when they first became partners back in 2014.
In addition to rejecting his offer, Jay also accused Bacardi of unduly influencing a third party who had agreed to purchase his stake at the price he was asking for—$1.5 billion—but then backed out after being contacted by representatives from Bacardi who allegedly discouraged them from going through with the sale.
Despite all of this legal drama, one thing is clear: Jay-Z is ready and willing to part ways with D’Usse if it means getting what he believes is fair compensation from Bacardi for his stake in the company—$2.5 billion or more! It remains to be seen whether or not this dispute will be resolved soon; however, it serves as an example of how important rewards & loyalty programs can be in business deals such as these, since it allows both partners involved to have clear expectations on who gets what when one partner wishes to buy out the other’s share.
The ongoing dispute between Jay-Z and Bacardi is an example of how both sides need to have clear expectations on who gets what when one partner wishes to buy out the other’s share, and these programs can help provide that clarity.