LVMH’s Moet Hennessy Forms Wine and Spirits JV With Campari

(Bloomberg) -- Moet Hennessy and Campari Group are forming a joint venture to invest in fast-growing wine and spirits online companies as the pandemic fuels the shift to e-commerce.

Under the terms of the agreement, Campari will sell its stake in Tannico, an online business, into the joint venture with LVMH’s wine and spirits division for just over 25.6 million euros ($30.4 million) with the aim of building a “European e-commerce pure player in this growing category.” Tannico also owns a majority stake in Ventealapropriete.com, an e-commerce platform for fine wines and spirits in France.

The joint venture will be led by Marco Magnocavallo, the current chief executive officer of Tannico, who will also hold a minority stake in the business. In a statement, Magnocavallo said the backing of Campari and Moet Hennessy will give the joint venture the “firepower to consolidate the fragmented European e-commerce sector” and offer a “qualitative, sizeable and integrated route to market” for suppliers.

A boom in at-home cocktail-making during lockdowns has buoyed online revenue for distillers including Campari and rivals Diageo Plc and Pernod Ricard SA. Budweiser maker Anheuser-Busch InBev NV also benefited from the trend through its ownership of Master of Malt, an e-commerce store largely focused on whisky.

“While e-commerce was already a growing channel for wines and spirits, the global pandemic has triggered a significant acceleration,” Philippe Schaus, CEO of Moet Hennessy, said in the statement.

“The new partnership aims to continue to grow, further strengthening its footprint and expertise in the online retailing of spirits and wines,” Campari CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz said in the statement.

Campari acquired a 49% stake in Tannico in June 2020.

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