Man United investor Ineos splits with key sport figure
Ineos, minority investors of Manchester United, split with a key sports figure on Thursday, citing a failure to agree over the future.
The Sir Jim Ratcliffe-owned chemicals giant and British Olympic gold medal winner Sir Ben Ainslie have parted ways following Britain’s first appearance in an America’s Cup final in 60 years.
The two parties formed Ineos Britannia for the 37th sailing regatta but Ineos will now take the firm forward into the next America’s Cup.
“Ineos will enter a challenge for the 38th America’s Cup under the team name Ineos Britannia after parting ways with Sir Ben Ainslie,” a statement read.
“Unfortunately, Ineos Britannia and Sir Ben could not find agreement on terms to move forward following the conclusion of the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona.”
Ratcliffe said he was “proud” of what the attempt achieved with Ainslie, claiming it “set new benchmarks for British sailing”. He added: “We will now build upon this for the 38th America’s Cup through the Ineos challenge and already have 100 scientists and engineers working on the design of our AC38 yacht.”
Ainslie, though, insisted he was “astounded” by the split, adding that progression under Britannia “raises significant legal and practical obstacles for them”.
Ainslie’s America’s Cup team will be known as Athena Racing while Ratcliffe’s team will go forward with Dave Endean as CEO, who was chief operating officer under Ainslie.
It is understood that the Britannia project for the last America’s Cup cost well in advance of £100m.