Tottenham Hotspur is engaged in a legal battle with Ineos, the company owned by Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, concerning a terminated multi-million pound sponsorship agreement.
Ratcliffe’s chemicals group, Ineos, and its Grenadier vehicle brand initially struck a five-year deal in December 2022 to become Spurs’ “official 4×4 vehicle partner.” This expanded upon a previous 2020 contract where Ineos supplied the club with hand sanitiser during the pandemic.
Following Ratcliffe`s acquisition of a stake in rival Premier League club Manchester United last year, it became clear that Ineos intended to end the sponsorship agreement with Tottenham. While it was initially understood that a mutual agreement had been reached to break the multi-million pound contract, this now appears not to be the case.
Tottenham has now taken legal action against Ineos by filing a claim in the High Court. The claim, lodged on June 12, is listed under “general commercial contracts and arrangements” and specifically names Ineos Automotive Limited, an Ineos subsidiary, as the defendant.
This High Court action suggests that previous negotiations between the two parties failed to resolve the dispute regarding the sponsorship termination.
Tottenham declined to comment on the ongoing legal matter. Ineos released a statement confirming: “INEOS Automotive has been a partner of Tottenham Hotspur since 2022, expanding on a partnership agreement that INEOS Group had in place with the club since 2020. We have a contractual right to terminate our partnership contract and exercised that right in December 2024.”
Reports indicate that despite the legal filing, there is still hope that the parties can reach an out-of-court settlement to avoid a full High Court hearing.
In related news from Tottenham, the club appointed Thomas Frank as their new head coach on Thursday, six days after the departure of Ange Postecoglou. Spurs reportedly paid Brentford approximately £10 million in compensation for the Danish manager.
Frank’s move to Tottenham was reportedly delayed due to discussions surrounding his coaching staff, particularly the highly-rated head of coaching, Justin Cochrane.
Interestingly, Manchester United had considered the Brentford boss as a potential candidate to replace Erik ten Hag last summer before eventually appointing Ruben Amorim in October.
