Man Utd chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe locked in legal battle with Tottenham over broken multi-million sponsorship deal
SPURS are locked in a legal battle with Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in a row over a broken sponsorship deal.
Ratcliffe 's Ineos chemicals giant and its Grenadier car brand agreed a five-year deal as Spurs ' 'official 4x4 vehicle partner' in December 2022.
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It followed a 2020 contract with Ineos unveiled as the club's 'official hand sanitiser supplier' during the pandemic.
Following Ratcliffe's takeover at Prem rivals United last year it was confirmed that the company intended to pull out of the agreement.
It was believed that a break deal in the multi-million pound agreement had been reached between the two parties.
But now Spurs have instigated a High Court legal action against Ineos.
As part of what is listed as a 'general commercial contracts and arrangements', Tottenham have lodged a claim against Ineos Automotive Limited, a subsidiary of Ineos.
That suggests negotiations have failed to find an agreement, with the Tottenham claim lodged on June 12.
Tottenham declined to comment while Ineos said in a statement: "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 in December 2024 exercised that right."
SunSport understands it is hoped a deal can be reached to prevent a full High Court hearing.
Spurs appointed Thomas Frank as their new manager on Thursday, six days on from the departure of Ange Postecoglou.
The Lilywhites paid Brentford around £10million in compensation for the Dane.
Frank's move took time to be completed due to negotiations over backroom staff - specifically highly-rated head of coaching Justin Cochrane.
Man Utd considered the Brentford boss as a potential replacement for Erik ten Hag last summer.
However, the Red Devils instead opted for Ruben Amorim in October.
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