Brad Pitt is suing ex-wife Angelina Jolie for selling her stake in their co-owned French vinyard, Chateau Miraval, without his knowledge.

The Miraval estate is located in the village of Correns, in south eastern France, and was purchased by the former couple in 2008 for around €25m (£20.8m).

It was bought with the intention of raising their children there and building a family wine business.

They got married on the grounds of the estate in 2014, but split two years later.

According to legal documents, Meet Joe Black star Pitt, 58, contributed 60% of the purchase price of the estate, with The Eternals actress Jolie, 46, paying the remaining 40%. Both had agreed that neither of them would sell off their stake without the other’s consent.

Pitt alleges that he was not informed that his ex had sold her stake to a Luxembourg-based spirits manufacturer controlled by businessman Yuri Shefler.

“Jolie consumated the purported sale without Pitt’s knowledge, denying Pitt the consent right she owed him and the right of first refusal her business entity owed his,” legal documents filed on Thursday said.

“The vineyard became Pitt’s passion - and a profitable one, as Miraval, under Pitt’s stewardship, has grown into a multimillion-dollar international success story and one of the world’s most highly regarded producers of rose wine.

“She sold her interest with the knowledge and intention that Shefler and his affiliates would seek to control the business to which Pitt had devoted himself and to undermine Pitt’s investment in Miraval,” they further alleged.

Jolie reportedly informed her ex of her decision to sell to Shefler in January 2021, saying she had reached a “painful decision, with a heavy heart”.

Pitt is calling for a trial by jury over the sale.

They have six children together - Maddox, Pax and Zahara, who are adopted, as well as Shiloh and twins Vivienne and Knox.