Luxury goods giant Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy has bought a 50% stake in St-Emilion’s Château Cheval Blanc from its billionaire chairman and controlling shareholder, Bernard Arnault.

The deal also includes a 50% stake in Arnault’s company La Tour du Pin, which owns another St-Emilion domaine, Château Quinault L’Enclos. Financial details were not disclosed.

News of the transaction sent the share price of LVMH up more than 10% in early trading on Friday, with analysts speculating that it could signal an impending simplification of the French company’s complicated corporate structure.

It also led to a resurfacing of speculation over the future of UK drinks multinational Diageo’s 34% stake in LVMH. The French company denied reports in April that it might sell its Moët Hennessy drinks arm to the London-based company.

LVMH said the addition of the Premier Grand Cru Classé Cheval Blanc and the Grand Cru Classé Quinault would ‘complement the LVMH portfolio of super-premium wines’.

The company already dominates the Champagne market and owns a range of still wines, including Château d’Yquem, Cloudy Bay, Cape Mentelle and Terrazas.

Arnault, reputedly France’s richest man, bought Cheval-Blanc with Belgian businessman Albert Frère in 1998 for a reported €155m. The pair acquired Quinault last year for a rumoured sum of up to €10m.

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Written by Richard Woodard

Richard Woodard
Richard Woodard
Decanter Magazine, Wine & Spirits Writer

Richard Woodard is a freelance wine and spirits writer based in the UK. Aside from Decanter, he writes for several wine trade and media outlets including Imbibe, The Drinks Business, Harpers and Drinks International.

Since 2015 he has been the magazine editor of Scotchwhisky.com. He has formerly worked as a wine news reporter at Imbibe and a feature writer for Halycon Magazine.