Tottenham sues Ineos over sponsorship deal as Ratcliffe’s firm nets £41.6m Mercedes windfall
Exclusive: Manchester United co-owner’s company to collect remaining £16.6m by July.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos will receive a £41.6 million payout amid a legal battle with Tottenham Hotspur over a multi-million sponsorship deal.
Mercedes Formula One team’s directors proposed a £125m dividend for the financial year ending 31 December 2024, the company's latest accounts show. Ratcliffe’s Ineos Industries Holdings Limited owns a third of the Formula One team and it will receive £41.6m of the total payout.
Ineos has already received £25m from the £75m distributed by March. A further £16.6m from the remaining £50m is due by the end of July.
Tottenham Hotspur are suing Ineos for £11.1m, according to The Telegraph.
Earlier in June, the North London club filed High Court proceedings against Ratcliffe’s Ineos Automotive Limited over a terminated sponsorship agreement.
The legal dispute comes just as Ineos receives a windfall nearly four times the value of the sponsorship it walked away from.
Both Ineos Industries Holdings Limited and Ineos Automotive Limited are subsidiaries of Ineos Industries Limited.
Ineos has been accused of failing to pay Tottenham around half a million in August 2024 and also missing a payment of £5.1m in December for the 2025-26 season.
Spurs, who reportedly terminated the partnership in March, are seeking £5.2m in damages. The deal, signed in 2022, had two more years left.
An Ineos spokesperson told The Telegraph: “Ineos Automotive was a partner of Tottenham Hotspur from 2022, expanding on a partnership agreement that Ineos Group had in place with the club since 2020.
“We had a contractual right to terminate our partnership contract and in December 2024 exercised that right.”
In December 2022, Tottenham Hotspur agreed a five-year sponsorship deal with Ineos Automotive worth a minimum of £17.5m. The INEOS Grenadier 4x4 was announced as the club’s official 4x4 vehicle partner.
“Through the partnership, INEOS Grenadier will engage the Club’s global fanbase through digital and social content and matchday activations at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the Grenadier logo visible on our dugout seat headrests,” the club said.
In October 2023, Ineos confirmed that the sponsorship agreement would remain intact as Ratcliffe was on the cusp of acquiring a 25% stake in Manchester United.
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