Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS counter-suing Tottenham relating to Harry Kane's Bayern Munich move

New York Times

11 hours ago

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's car company INEOS Automotive is counter-suing Tottenham Hotspur for more than £1million.
In legal documents filed to the High Court earlier this month, INEOS' lawyers have disputed Tottenham's claim from June, in which the Premier League club sued the company for £11million ($14.8m).
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The legal dispute centres on the 'Official Partnership Agreement' between Tottenham and INEOS that was signed in December 2022. This agreement was intended to grant INEOS commercial sponsorship rights for almost five years, specifically relating to the 'INEOS Grenadier' brand in exchange for almost £17.5m in sponsorship fees, not including indexation. That sponsorship deal has now collapsed.
Tottenham argued in their 'Particulars of Claim', filed to the High Court in June and seen by The Athletic, that they terminated the agreement on March 11 this year. They cited INEOS' failure to pay an indexation payment of almost £480,000, which was due by 16 August 2024, and a sponsorship fee of £5.1m, which was due by 1 December 2024, as well as another interest charge of almost £300,000. Tottenham's claim describes the failure to pay as a 'material breach of the agreement'.
Tottenham have also claimed damages of more than £5.2m for breach of contract. INEOS has always maintained their right to terminate the agreement. In INEOS' 'Defence and Counterclaim', also seen by The Athletic, they argue that the company wrote to terminate the agreement in a letter dated December 6 2024, in effect from 30 June 2025.
Their argument is that neither the indexation payment of almost £480,000 nor the sponsorship fee of £5.1m are therefore payable. INEOS further argue that Tottenham were 'not entitled to terminate the Agreement'.
INEOS' counterclaim argues that Tottenham 'failed to grant' INEOS rights from 11 March 2025, when they wrote to INEOS to terminate the agreement, until 30 June 2025, 'when the Agreement terminated pursuant to the INEOS Termination Letter'. For these 112 days, INEOS has claimed damages of £1,073,972.60.
The INEOS' counterclaim also makes reference to discussions between Tottenham and German car giant Audi at the time that Harry Kane was transferred from Tottenham to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023.
The 'Defence and Counterclaim' starts by referring to a 'highly significant series of events' in which Tottenham 'started negotiating with a major competitor to INEOS'. The counterclaim argues that the club 'was not entitled to have discussions with a Competitor in connection with any rights which were the same as, or substantially similar to, the Rights granted to INEOS'.
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The document states that, on August 3 2023, Tottenham's then-chief commercial officer Todd Kline told INEOS chairman Ashley Reed he 'had been in discussions' with Audi: 'According to Mr Kline, the discussions and/or negotiations related to a proposed transfer of the Club's player Harry Kane to the German club FC Bayern Munich.'
According to the document, this led to discussions which brought about a new agreement between Tottenham and INEOS, under the terms of which INEOS had the right to terminate the agreement after its third year, provided that INEOS provided the Club with no less than six months' written notice.
Tottenham Hotspur declined to comment.
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