Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company INEOS has agreed to pay Tottenham Hotspur around £5m to quickly settle the case, according to reports. The company, which is co-owned by the Manchester United mogul, has been accused of breaching a five-year minimum contract worth £17.5m that allows Tottenham to promote its Grenadier as the club’s “official 4X4 vehicle partner”.
The deal was thought to have been signed in 2022, but INEOS has been working with Spurs since the club was recognized as the club’s ‘official hand sanitiser supplier’ during the coronavirus outbreak. Tottenham ended their relationship with Ratcliffe’s company in March and began legal proceedings three months later. They claim that more than £5 million in annual installments were not paid on December 1 and that they have already unpaid inflation-related amounts of around £500,000.
The Telegraph reports that the total amount paid to Spurs was not disclosed, but sources said the agreed amount was around half of the around £11 million the north Londoner was seeking.
Additionally, Spurs were seeking nearly £5.3m in damages when his contract was terminated with more than two years remaining. Shortly after, INEOS retaliated with a counterclaim against Spurs seeking more than £1 million in damages.
They accused the north Londoner of taking part in sponsorship deal negotiations with Audi related to Harry Kane’s potential move to Bayern Munich.
INEOS said in its counterclaim that “on or about August 3, 2023 (i.e., the beginning of the second year of the contract), the club’s Todd Klein indicated to INEOS’s Ashley Reed that the club was negotiating with Audi AG, a German car manufacturer, regarding rights that were the same or substantially similar to the rights granted to Ineos under the contract, and/or that the club was negotiating with Audi regarding rights that were exclusive to Ineos under the terms.” 4 of the agreement.
“According to Klein, the discussions and negotiations were in relation to the proposed transfer of the club’s player Harry Kane to German club FC Bayern Munich.”
INEOS’ defense also emphasized that a commercial partnership “has not materialized” and that Spurs and INEOS have agreed that “the contract may be terminated with effect from the end of the third year of the contract period”.
They were adamant that “in this situation, the club owes INEOS over £1 million by not offering them the rights in the final part of the third year”.
Spurs confirmed they were in commercial talks with Audi, but rejected suggestions that the talks would give Ineos the right to terminate the deal, given Tottenham’s failure to finalize a deal with the German car giant.
Tottenham said its deal with INEOS “includes annual payments starting at £2.125 billion in the first year and increasing to £4.6 million in the fifth year, all including VAT and an index linked to inflation”, and claimed that interest would pursue “further or other relief as the court deems appropriate”.
At the time, an INEOS spokesperson said: “INEOS Automotive will become a partner of Tottenham Hotspur from 2022, extending the partnership agreement that Ineos Group had with the club from 2020. We have a contractual right to terminate the partnership agreement, which we exercised in December 2024.”
INEOS has terminated its partnerships with a number of major sports organizations that it had previously supported. They have already terminated agreements with Ben Ainslie’s sailing team and the New Zealand All Blacks rugby union side.
In February, the Telegraph also reported that the latter had begun legal proceedings, claiming that the contract, which was expected to run until 2027, was concluded prematurely even though it had already been agreed.
INEOS claims it is being forced to make budget cuts due to Europe’s “extreme” green carbon tax. Mr Ratcliffe blamed higher energy prices and taxes for the closure of the synthetic ethanol plant in Grangemouth, Scotland, which resulted in the loss of 80 direct roles and a further 500 indirect jobs.
