EGN NEWS DESK
Sean Combs, the music mogul whose enterprise empire has been upended by current lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault and a federal investigation, bought his half of the tequila model DeLeón for about $200 million this yr, in response to a public report for traders.
Mr. Combs, who has vehemently denied allegations of sexual assault and intercourse trafficking, got here to prominence as a hip-hop impresario however amassed a lot of his wealth from different companies, together with by way of work with the liquor large Diageo. Their partnership, which was thrown into turmoil final yr earlier than the sexual assault lawsuits, is now over.
Diageo disclosed in a current monetary assertion that it had agreed on Jan. 16 to purchase the 50 p.c stake within the DeLeón tequila model from Mr. Combs’s firm, Combs Wine and Spirits, “for a complete consideration of roughly $200 million.”
Mr. Combs’s work with Diageo started greater than 15 years in the past when he started selling its vodka model Ciroc. He bought DeLeón in a three way partnership with the corporate a few decade in the past, leveraging his movie star to advertise the tequila model on social media, in interviews and as a prop in music movies.
According to a courtroom submitting in June by a Diageo government, Mr. Combs — who has additionally been recognized all through his profession as Puff Daddy or Diddy — amassed almost a billion {dollars} from his relationship with the corporate.
But the mogul’s partnership with the liquor large started to fray, spilling into public final yr. Combs Wine and Spirits sued Diageo and accused it of typecasting Ciroc and DeLeón as “Black manufacturers” that ought to be focused solely to “‘city’ prospects,” limiting potential development.
Diageo denied the allegations of racism and accused Mr. Combs of “mismanagement.” The firm additionally accused him of breaching his contract when he made the general public accusations and moved to terminate his relationship with Ciroc, which led to a ballooning authorized battle between Diageo and Mr. Combs’s firm.
The current lawsuits accusing Mr. Combs of rape and sexual assault grew to become an element within the authorized battle with Diageo, a part of which hinged on the query of whether or not Mr. Combs ought to be allowed to proceed to function the face of DeLeón.
“Mr. Combs is well-aware that these lawsuits make it unattainable for him to proceed to be the ‘face’ of something,” attorneys for Diageo wrote in December.
The current collection of lawsuits started in November when a former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, accused him of years of sexual and bodily abuse. It was settled in someday. But plenty of different fits quickly adopted, together with a lawsuit accusing Mr. Combs of collaborating in a gang rape in 2003, and one other through which a male music producer accused Mr. Combs of undesirable sexual contact.
Mr. Combs has denied the accusations towards him, saying that “sickening allegations have been made towards me by people in search of a fast payday.”
Mr. Combs’s authorized challenges have appeared to develop extra severe in current weeks, following the raids on his houses in Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Fla., which a federal official mentioned had been associated to what’s at the least partially a human trafficking investigation.
Diageo and Mr. Combs lower ties earlier than the raids, in January.
The monthslong authorized dispute between Mr. Combs and Diageo had aired inside enterprise and private grievances in courtroom filings. The claims had been each massive in scale — Mr. Combs’s lawsuit accused Diageo of using language about variety and equality whereas shortchanging him as a Black associate — and minute, with Mr. Combs charging {that a} bottle redesign concerned stickers that had been “liable to effervescent,” making the product look low cost. In courtroom filings, Diageo referred to as itself a “demonstrated champion of variety” and mentioned it was conscious of a “single occasion” of a label effervescent that was “promptly addressed.”
“Sean Combs and Diageo have now agreed to resolve all disputes between them,” they mentioned in a joint assertion in January. “Mr. Combs has withdrawn all of his allegations about Diageo and can voluntarily dismiss his lawsuits towards Diageo with prejudice. Diageo and Mr. Combs don’t have any ongoing enterprise relationship, both with respect to Ciroc vodka or DeLeón tequila, which Diageo now solely owns.”
The assertion didn’t disclose the quantity that the corporate paid for his share of DeLeón.
At the top of January, Diageo disclosed the $200 million determine within the monetary report, which went largely unnoticed on the time outdoors of the commerce press that covers the liquor business. “In reference to this acquisition, the beforehand excellent disputes between the shareholders had been resolved and Diageo is now the 100% proprietor of the DeLeón model,” the report mentioned.
